


Cupcakes and Cuddles

by dewshi



Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, F/F, Rating May Change, Slow Burn, and max is a tired uni student, chloe's a baker at a coffee shop
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-21
Updated: 2017-11-13
Packaged: 2019-01-03 18:00:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 20,650
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12151884
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dewshi/pseuds/dewshi
Summary: Max is a tired photography student unused to the streets of Portland, and one day she finds herself burnt out and hungry after an all-nighter and 36 consecutive hours of studying. Luckily, she runs into a small coffee shop that just happens to have employed the most beautiful woman she has seen in her entire life.Chloe is a high school dropout with a great affinity for baking and two best friends: one rich, one attractive. Supposedly, life couldn't be better, but the thing is that a dropout who smokes weed and has a temporary job in a tiny coffee shop doesn't have the best chances for employment, and she's in the lack of a girlfriend, as always. But one night an adorable uni student happens into the café.--your average coffee shop au with a lot of cupcakes and probably even more cuddles.





	1. The Butterfly Café

**Author's Note:**

> hey its m'first fic be nice to me

_Goddammit, how long have I been here?_

Max packed her laptop into her bag and tossed it haphazardly over her shoulder, walking out of the hush of the library onto the street. It was colder than she expected and instinctively she adjusted her hoodie to cover more of the t-shirt she was wearing. Why, oh, why hadn’t she dressed in more and thicker layers of clothing? The memory of the rush she was in that morning came back to her mind. Several cups of black coffee and an all-nighter which had been more than a mistake, and still way too little time.

She blinked slowly at the sun setting over the horizon. It cast pale orange light over the apartment buildings and the park across the street. With a quick check from her phone, Max confirmed it was indeed past 7 PM now and she had been awake for over 36 hours. That was way too much to someone who had been used to sleeping at least 10 hours every night for the last 20 years. Max would have to find some café around here, preferably one that catered to tired university students that just lived through the worst all-nighter of their lives. Or anywhere, really, as long as they had caffeine for her to infuse directly into her bloodstream. Unfortunately, she wasn’t too familiar with this part of Portland yet. She only came here to study, so she assumed it’d take a bit of searching to find a pleasant place.

Sure enough, after 15 minutes of frantic googling and wandering around the streets looking like a tiny drunk, she ended up at a small, but cozy-looking coffee shop. The whole place’s look was relaxed, almost too much so. It was like a hipster’s dream. Wide windows with light brown frames leaked out the light coming from paper lights of all things. Max nearly laughed out loud. And _she_ was considered twee. Besides the lights, it was almost like someone went into a diner and threw the entirety of Max’s portfolio onto it. It had booths, in which dark wood tables were surrounded by beige couches on either side. The place was quite small, the kind that you probably wouldn’t look twice at if you weren’t cold and about to fall asleep on the spot. There were only a few people there, drinking from pretty mugs and eating delicious-looking pastries.

Come to think of it, when had Max last eaten? She glanced up at the coffee shop’s name, painted on the outer wall with large white letters. _Butterfly Café. Couldn’t be any worse than any other place around,_ she thought.

The moment the bell tinkled to announce Max’s entrance to the café, the smell of incredible coffee and fresh-baked pastries found her nose and she was practically paralyzed for a straight ten seconds. At the counter, a woman around her age with a blue jay feather in her hair (that can’t be hygienic, Max found herself thinking), was propped against her elbow, engaged in conversation that she would obviously rather not be having with a young man who seemed very excited and eager to express it. When Max stepped forward, the barista turned to her, and for a split second her expression was that of pure relief.

“I’m sorry, Thomas, but I have a customer to serve,” she told the young man and scooted to Max as fast as the limits of time and space possibly allowed her. “Hey there, I’m Rachel, I’ll be your barista tonight. What can I get you?” The young man stared on in shock and for a moment Max thought he dislodged his jaw or something, but eventually he shut his mouth and walked away. Once Thomas was out of earshot, Rachel leaned over the counter and whispered to Max.

“Thank you so much. He’s been bugging me all night.” She stood up and looked Max straight in the eye. “Anyway, I was serious about being your barista. Welcome to the Butterfly Café. What would you like?” It was then that Max was actually brought to reality and she stared at Rachel, who, by the way, looked like somebody had hand-crafted the perfect human woman and brought her to life by divine assistance or something.

“Uuhh…” she stammered and blinked a few times. “Coffee?”

“Just regular coffee?” Rachel said, leaning back on the counter.

“Yes please. With milk.”

“Gotcha.” Rachel’s hand brushed a strand of blonde hair behind her ear and she got to work. Her motions were smooth as she grabbed a cup from somewhere and did whatever magic it is that coffee shop workers usually do.

“You look exhausted,” she told Max over her shoulder while working the coffee machine. “Long day?”

“Long two days,” Max responded. “In a row. With nothing in between.” Rachel laughed. Based on that sound alone, Max was seriously starting to think her theory about the divine assistance was true. “Is it really that obvious?”

“Absolutely. And, well, we get a lot of tired students. Probably about the location. Speaking of location, I haven’t seen you around here before.” She set the cup on the counter in front of Max. God, it smelled so good, Max wanted to just throw the contents of it into her mouth right at that very second. Rachel slid towards the cash register. “You new to Portland…?” She glanced at Max, awaiting a name and an answer. Max blinked.

“Uh, Max. And yeah,” she responded. “I came here in August.”

“Oh, yeah, for college?” Rachel asked while tapping away at the register. Max nodded. “That’s cool. Do you want anything else with your coffee?”

“I, uh…” Max was about to say no, but she glanced to her side and looked at the display of baked goods that she hadn’t had time to properly marvel at yet.

“I can personally vouch for our baker and assure you, she’s the best baker in the universe,” Rachel assured, clearly noticing Max’s hungry look at the pastries.

“Oh yeah?” Max responded and tore her gaze away from the cakes, which, by the way, looked absolutely fucking incredible. 

Rachel nodded. “I don’t think _one_ cupcake could be that bad, right?” she pointed out. “Plus, knowing university students, you haven’t eaten in 24 hours.”

Max chuckled. “That’s close to the truth. I’ll take a double chocolate cupcake,” she relented. Rachel’s smile would’ve looked sinister, if she didn’t look like a perfect human being.  
“Coming right up.”

Rachel took a plate from God knows where under the counter and opened the baked goods display, sliding what must’ve been the most delicious looking cupcake Max had seen in her entire life onto it. She put the plate before Max and tapped something into the register.

“Alright, that’d be $5,50.” Max dug through her messenger bag, and when she found her wallet, pressed a five-dollar bill and some random quarters on the table. Rachel counted the coins and nodded. “Alright. Y’want the check?”

“No, I’m good,” Max told her. “Unless this cupcake is poisoned.”

Rachel laughed again. “I don’t think it is. I hope not. Legal issues can get way too expensive for my budget.” Then she popped into the kitchen, which was probably also a break room of some sort for the employees. Max could hear her yelling.

“Chloe! I’m leaving now!” A quiet voice deeper in the kitchen responded to her. “Okay! Take care!” Max took her coffee and cupcake to a bar stool a bit further away from the cash register, in case someone came in. The cupcake looked too good to resist. She immediately bit into it.

Holy fuck. Max had no incentive to assume Rachel lied to her about the café’s baker being the best on the face of the Earth. The cupcake was still warm, and the bits of chocolate dissipated on Max’s tongue moments after biting it. It felt like it melted in her mouth and left behind the taste of happiness.

A few moments later, Max heard the kitchen door go again, and immediately turned to look. She had to put all of the physical effort that her body could muster at that moment to not drop both the cupcake and her jaw. Rachel wasn’t the perfect human being. That title belonged to the woman currently standing in the kitchen doorway. She was tall, with short, bright blue hair, a greek nose, pale skin that looked like it belonged to a Hollywood actress, a loose t-shirt beneath the brown and blue apron and arms stretched into the air.

There was a lone cheer in the café. In one of the booths, a dude in a camouflage jacket and glasses cheered for this new girl that just showed up.

“Yeah, I see you, Justin!” the blue-haired girl responded to him after she finished stretching. Her voice made Max suddenly feel extremely awake, despite only just having started her coffee. The barista eyed the counter, apparently considering leaping over it, before stepping through the gate calmly and walking over to Justin. Their conversation quickly resulted in laughter from the girl, laughter which was even more perfect than Rachel’s, somehow. Max couldn’t stop staring until the barista eventually returned to the counter. Her eyes met Max’s for a second, and Max turned to stare at her coffee. To her surprise, the girl walked over.

“Hey,” she said, and suddenly Max felt butterflies in her stomach and was paralyzed in fear and surprise and joy maybe and every emotion that had ever existed overcoming her entire body at once.

“Uuhhh… hi,” she managed. The girl’s eyes were the same bright blue that her hair was, and it basically made her 700 times cooler. Max was pretty sure she was blushing.

“You’re that girl that Rachel talked about, right?” the barista said uncertainly and leaned on the counter. 

Max blinked. “Uh, yes? P- probably?” she stuttered, making a mental note to learn how to talk to other human beings in a normal manner. The barista laughed.

“She said she convinced you to buy one of my cupcakes.” The girl’s eyes flicked to the half-eaten cupcake and back to Max, and she leaned a bit closer. “Do you like it?” Max didn’t hesitate for a second.

“Oh, yes, of course! It’s incredible, I love it,” she complimented. The girl grinned and threw her arms up.

“Yes! A happy customer!” she cajoled, before resting her forearms on the table again. Max watched her, and continued to be nervous as fuck, but actually spoke up.

“You make it sound like you don’t get many around here,” she said. “With food like this, I’d be surprised.”

“Oh, we get plenty. I just have the late counter shifts usually and there’s fewer people then, so I don’t really get to hear the compliments myself. Even though most of these were made by me,” the barista explained. Max released some tension from her shoulders she hadn’t realized she was holding there. “You must be really busy.” 

The girl shrugged. “I don’t know. Spend the days baking, and then sell off the day’s remainders. Basic nine to five, pretty much.”

“How do you even bake this well? It’s fucking delicious,” Max said again, taking a bite of the cupcake for emphasis. The barista looked at her in thought for a moment.

“Well,” her voice dropped into almost a whisper. “I like to pretend I’m doing alchemy.” Max snorted into her mouth, almost spitting out her bite of cupcake. She swallowed it quickly.

“What?” she asked in complete disbelief, just to confirm that she’d heard correctly.

“Don’t tell anyone I said that!” the barista said. “I’ve only told a couple people! It’s fun.” Upon seeing Max’s undoubtedly amusing expression, she continued in a melodramatic fashion. “O, I hath tried for many years to perfect this my recipe for the sponge cake of the philosophers!” Max chuckled into the crook of her arm, wiping off crumbs of cupcake as she did. The barista stood up straight, looking up at the ceiling, and proclaiming loudly: “Yet, still, I hath not succeeded! Doth this be my fate? In this cruel, unforgiving world, hath God let down me and- an- pfft-” Max was now snorting in between bursts of outright laughter, and that seemed to crack up the barista, too. She joined Max, and they both laughed until they must’ve looked crazy to the few remaining people in the café.

“That is-” Max managed- “honestly adorable. You’re serious, right?” The barista settled down and leaned her forearms against the table again.

“Absolutely. A pinch of sugar, a dash of gelatine, and soon I will have all the gold glaze I desire. It makes the process a lot more fun.” Max leaned her jaw on her hand. She took a sip of her quickly disappearing coffee.

“I don’t know your name,” she realized. What had Rachel said in the kitchen, again? “...Chloe?”

“Chloe, yeah,” the barista told her. She seemed surprised, which was honestly a given. She had this gorgeous smile on her face. “Chloe Price. How’d you guess?”

“I heard Rachel talking to you. I’m Max Caulfield,” Max responded. “I should come here again. Your cupcakes are incredible.”

“So they are, if I do say so myself,” Chloe not-so-subtly bragged. “And also, please do, this place is the only thing that allows me to pay my bills.” Max wheezed and chuckled into the back of her free hand. She finished her coffee while continuing to chat idly with Chloe.

Even if finishing a cupcake was always a sad moment, this time, Max was extra disappointed. Not only because it was the best cupcake she’d ever eaten, but also because it meant it was time to head back to her boring apartment. Where there was no Chloe. Nobody at all.

“Make sure to come back sometime,” Chloe called from the counter when Max placed her hand on the handle of the café door. She looked back at Chloe. Their eyes met, and the butterflies returned to Max’s stomach.  
“Don’t worry, I definitely will.”


	2. Green Tea and Goodwill

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kate, Warren and Brooke tease Max about her crush until she finally tells them about it. But it's all in good fun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it's here finally
> 
> shoutout to jen, who's not on ao3, for helping me name this chap

Max rested her chin on the palm of her hand, leaning against the table at the lecture hall. The professor hadn’t arrived yet, and students were still pouring at a steady rate into the hall, although Max couldn’t see them and honestly didn’t care. Her eyes were closed, but it felt like there was a colour painted onto the insides of her eyelids. Blue. A striking blue, not neon, but bright. Max couldn’t help but recognize it. It was the shade that Chloe’s hair and eyes were. Chloe… From the Butterfly Café. Max had to go back there later. She idly doodled the café logo (unsurprisingly a butterfly) in her notepad as well as she could recall. She would have go back there soon. To taste more of their pastries, which Chloe had made according to herself. And… seeing her again. That would be nice, too.

“Hey, Max.” Max shot up at the familiar voice when Kate sat into the seat next to hers. Her clothes were clean, and the lecture hall lights lit up her gold cross necklace. A small, innocent smile was on her face, a bit wider than usual.

“Hi, Kate. How are you?” Max asked. It was good to see Kate so happy.

“Really well, actually,” Kate responded, digging into her bag to pull out a neat black notebook with the word “science” written into the white tag on its cover with small cursive letters.

“That’s good to hear.”

“What about you?” Kate inquired. “You were really tired yesterday.”

“Absolutely. I don’t think I’ll ever pull an all-nighter again.” Kate giggled. Her laughter was such a rare sound, Max had to smile. She relaxed her shoulders and rested her forearms against the table. The conversation soon went to school and other such mundane topics. Soon enough, a familiar duo joined them, too.

“Max! Kate!” Warren greeted, his arm interlocked to Brooke’s. His hair was messy, as always, and he was wearing one of those weird kaomoji sweatshirts he was famed for. Brooke’s neat navy hoodie, black t-shirt and clean, orderly glasses would’ve looked out of place next to him if it wasn’t for the Playstation-themed backpack that made them seem perfect for each other. And they were, obviously.

“Hey, guys,” Kate responded, and scooted towards Max to make room. Max also moved a bit further to accommodate for two new people. Warren and Brooke began telling their friends about some wild video game hunt they’d gone on at the mall until the professor finally showed up, apologizing about being late. Max smiled. All those lectures about how rough university was back in high school, and yet here she was, listening to the professor apologize for being late. It was rough, obviously, but different. It had its good sides.

Over the lecture, Max tried her best to concentrate and take notes, she really did, but her mind kept coming back to Chloe. The numerous butterfly doodles in her notebook quickly started becoming numerous doodles of a punk with short hair. Even though Max had only been around her once, it was like Chloe’s features were tattooed into her brain. As if she’d seen her thousands of times and made sure to take a good look every time.

But even while she could picture Chloe in her mind so realistically that Max could’ve sworn she was right there, she still couldn’t draw her right. The ridge of her nose, the shape of her eyes. Max knew them by heart, but she didn’t know how to put them on the page. Not that she had ever been an artist. Photography wasn’t easy for everybody, no artform was. It had its own challenges, but at least Max didn’t have to physically create the thing she was photographing from scratch.

She didn’t even register the end of the lecture before a gentle hand nudged her shoulder. Even though the touch was soft, it startled Max. Kate was looking at her in slightly amused worry. Her hand was in the air, hovering just next to Max. Warren and Brooke stood behind her. Brooke looked relaxed, contrasting Warren’s near-panicked expression.

“Earth to Max.” Brooke joked after a moment, and Max’s brain suddenly registered that the professor hadn’t been speaking for several minutes. Kate, Warren, and Brooke, however, had been trying to talk to Max, and she had no idea what they’d been saying to her.

“Uh, shit, sorry, I was zoning out, I-” Max explained frantically. Her hands scrambled to gather her pens and notes spread all over the table. Her friends were all packed up, obviously ready to leave already. 

“Who’s that?” Kate asked softly, her finger pointing to the multituous Chloe sketches on the open page of Max’s notebook. Max froze and let out a long “uhh” of complete shock. It felt like her brain disappeared suddenly. It probably moved to southern France to live in a modest house and farm grapevines, somewhere far away from all of this sudden attention and panic.

“I- I don’t mean to pry,” Kate quickly corrected and pulled her hand away, obviously frightened by Max’s reaction. Max recovered from her shock and slammed her pencil case into her bag while vigorously shaking her head.

“No, no, it’s fine, she’s, I- uh, you surprised me.”

“Yeah, you surprised us too. You went totally zombie on us there for a second.” Warren leaned past Kate to get a better look at the notebook. “Is that your girl crush or what?” Max pushed him back a little bit.

“Ugh, no! No. Like, I mean,” Max huffed. “No. Right, like, I’ve only seen her once, and it’s not like I think she’s super h- hot and cute and attr- I mean… Right? I mean, that would just be weird, r- right?” Judging by Kate, Warren and Brooke’s expressions, she wasn’t very convincing.

“So… she’s your girl crush?” Brooke confirmed. Max could feel her cheeks heating up. She hid her face in her hands. Kate laughed. Weird. Max never thought of her as one to take pleasure in watching Max suffer.

“You definitely have to tell us the whole story of this mysterious crush,” Warren said, leaning back in his seat and crossed his arms behind his head. Max hummed, packing up the rest of her stuff. She stood up.

“I- uh, it’s kinda weird…” She shifted from foot to foot.

“All the better,” Warren said, standing up and moving out of the way to let Kate and Max pass him. Kate pressed a reassuring hand on Max’s shoulder and leaned in closer to her.

“You don’t have to tell us if you don’t want to,” she said quietly. It was obvious that she was curious too, so Max appreciated the gesture all the more. She smiled.

“I don’t mind. If you want, you could come to my place after classes,” she responded. “Maybe take your laptops and stuff with you? Like, a study session, kinda.”

“Except with you telling us all about your crush who you’ve only ever seen once in your entire life?” Brooke clarified. Kate giggled, and Max couldn’t help but chuckle, too.

“Yeah. Exactly like that.”

“That sounds good to me,” Kate said. There were general sounds of agreement amidst Warren, Brooke and Max. “But right now, I need to get to the modern design history class.” She started towards the hall door.

“Oh, I’m coming there too,” Max remembered and caught up to Kate with ease. “Let’s walk there together.”

“No talk about the crush though! We want to hear it too,” Warren called after them. Max showed him her tongue over her shoulder.

Some hours later, Max lay on her couch, messy brown hair covering her face. Her limbs were spread out over the couch, and a laptop along with several notebooks that she’d unsuccessfully attempted to work on an essay with were strewn on the table next to her. She had no intention of moving anytime soon.

Not until her phone made a sound, indicating a text message. Max groaned and half-heartedly sat up. She reached to the table, where her phone was, trying to move her body as little as humanly possible. The screen was still lit up from the message notification, so Max could easily see it.

_**Warren**_ _Class just ended. Brooke and I coming over now._  
_10/01 4:31 pm_

As if on cue, Max’s doorbell rang. It probably wasn’t Warren and Brooke, considering she got the message not even a minute earlier, and Warren wasn’t one to make that kind of joke. Max threw her legs to the ground and stretched before standing up and going over to open the door. 

She wasn’t surprised to see Kate there, smiling innocently. Somehow it didn’t seem like the day had worn down on her at all, quite the contrary. She was radiating positive energy. 

Hey, Max!” she greeted, practically bouncing. 

“Hi, Kate,” Max responded. “You look excited.” 

“Is it that obvious?” Kate asked, brushing a lock of blonde hair behind her ear. Max brought her attention to the clothes Kate was wearing, which weren’t the same she’d had on that morning. Now, instead of her clean black-and-white attire, she had on an oversized beige sweater and a loose brown jacket, although she still had her gold cross necklace. 

“Well, kind of. What’s up?” Max asked, taking a step to the side to let her friend in. Kate shuffled into the tiny apartment with uncharacteristic glee and plopped down on one of Max’s armchairs. She lifted her neat leather bag onto her lap and took out the cutest laptop Max had seen in her life. It was in a flower-themed laptop warmer, and covered in bunny and heart stickers that covered the pale gold-coloured metal almost completely. _Where the hell do you get a pale gold-coloured laptop?_ Max wondered before closing the door and returning to her spot on the couch. 

“See, on my way here, a car splashed water on me. I almost tripped,” Kate explained while her fingers tapped away at the keyboard. “But then this really nice girl from our visual design class, her name is Dana, she caught my arm before I hit the ground. She helped me clean my face so I wouldn’t look terrible on the way to my apartment. Oh yeah, I went to my apartment before I came here so I could change clothes. I hope that’s okay.” 

“Of course it’s okay,” Max said. “So that’s why you’re so excited?”

 

“Basically.” Kate giggled. “I know it doesn’t sound like much, but I like these clothes, and…”

 

“No reason is too small to be happy over,” Max half-interrupted. “That’s what I think, anyway.” Kate’s smile felt like a light that filled the whole room. She leaned into the armchair.

 

“Thanks, Max.” There was a moment of comfortable silence before Kate continued: “So, where are Warren and Brooke?”

 

“On their way here,” Max explained. “They only just got out of class.”

“Oh! Well, I don’t mind at least.” 

“Me neither.” Max stood. “I’ll make some tea for us, okay?” 

"Sounds great,” Kate said quietly and waved a little when Max disappeared into the kitchen. Max busied herself with the tea preparations. It wasn’t long until the kettle was boiling away on the stove, making enough water for Max and Kate, as well as Warren and Brooke if they were interested. They probably weren’t, but it was about hospitality. 

That was when the doorbell rang again. Before Max could react, she heard Kate announce that she would get the door. Max shrugged to herself, figuring it wasn’t that big of a deal. She heard chatting at the door. Warren and Brooke had arrived. Judgment day was here. Even though it wasn’t even that weird or interesting, Max felt nervous telling her friends about Chloe. They definitely weren’t about to let her be without teasing her about it at least once a day, and God forbid if they wanted to come with her to the Butterfly Café. The kettle started whistling, and Max almost burned her hand before getting it back into the living room.

Warren and Brooke had wasted no time getting prepared for a fun study session full of teasing Max about her crush on a punk, by the looks of it. Warren’s notebooks were mixing with Max’s on the living room table, and Brooke had a concentrated look on her face as she wrote something on her laptop. Warren looked up from his note-arranging when Max came in with a tray that had the teapot and tea bags along with some cups, spoons, sugar and milk. A nefarious grin spread on his face.

“Mad Max! Finally here to share her secrets with us!” he leaned back on the couch and moved around the stuff on the table to make space for the tray. Kate and Brooke lifted their gazes from their work. Max poured some hot water for herself and Kate and took a teabag before taking over her other armchair.

“Right,” she sighed. “That. What do you want to know?"

“Other than everything?” Brooke asked over her laptop, which clearly brought Warren much joy and pride in his girlfriend.

"Uh, yeah, could you be a bit more specific?” Max chuckled.

“What’s… uh… what’s her name?” Kate asked and placed her laptop on the table, replacing it in her hand with one of Max’s deer-themed mugs, which was currently filled with hot water and had a tea bag’s string hanging off the side.

“Chloe,” Max responded. “Her name’s Chloe.”

“And where exactly do you know this Chloe from?” Brooke asked. Max furrowed her brow and sank deeper into the chair. This was the awkward part. She could practically feel the dusty pink on her cheeks.

“Uh, well… See, it’s kinda weird, she…” Max cleared her throat. “Shwsmybarst,” she said quickly, way too quickly for anyone to have any clue what she was trying to communicate.

“Excuse me?” Kate asked. Max took a deep breath.

“She was my barista. I went to a coffee shop and she was a barista there.” Silence. Then Warren snorted before breaking out into loud, uncontrollable laughter. Max’s face continued heating up.

“Sh- you have a cru- crush on a barista? That is so-o-o cliché, what the hell!” Warren wheezed. “Y- you went to a café and saw a barista so hot that you started drawing her in your notebook?”

“And you’ve only been to this café once?” Brooke asked, and Max confirmed with a nod. “Did she seem to like you? The barista, I mean?”

“Uuhh… M… maybe?” Max responded. Chloe did come to speak to her, after all, but it seemed to be mostly because she wanted to hear Max compliment the cupcake, which she honestly would have anyway if she had the chance. It was such a good cupcake. And also Chloe was super attractive. Had Chloe been flirting with Max? She didn’t think so, although she wasn’t the best with people, so she wouldn’t have been able to tell, anyway.

“You’re going back there, right?” Kate asked, interrupting Max’s internal dialogue. “To… get to know her some more?”

“Oh, I’d go back there even again even if they hadn’t employed the most dreamy person on the face of the Earth,” Max responded. “Which they have. And she also happens to be the best baker. On second thought, maybe I wouldn’t go back there if they hadn’t employed Chloe.” Just the feeling of saying Chloe’s name was strange and tingly to Max. With the way Brooke looked at her, she might as well have been drooling Chloe-coloured goop out of the corner of her mouth.

“You’ve got it bad, haven’t you?”

“...I… Maybe?”

“You should take us to meet this Chloe,” Warren said.

“Absolutely not. I’m not- I don’t even know if she’s-”

“Absolutely yes.” Warren seemed to take delight in every syllable of protest that came out of Max’s mouth. “If she’s half as attractive as you claim, I want to at least see her once.” Max would’ve had to be blind to miss Brooke’s eye roll.

After about half an hour, Warren and Brooke (and occasionally Kate) had basically asked Max about everything she could tell them. Chloe’s eye colour, hair colour, the café she worked at, what kind of pastry Max had eaten. And during this interrogation, Max realized she knew barely anything about Chloe. She couldn't even remember her last name!

At some point, Warren and Brooke decided to take their leave. Apparently they had studying or something to do. Boring. Kate laughed when Max blew a raspberry at the door closing behind them. Not that she wasn’t secretly relieved to not be subjected to Warren’s constant teasing. Surprisingly enough, Brooke had indulged in the tea and even Warren had taken a cup. The teapot was almost empty, as was the sugar container (thank you, Warren). The tray instead now had 4 used tea bags on it. Oh boy.

Max saw Kate ease into the armchair when the door closed, leaving the two girls alone. She rocked her legs a bit.

“So… how do you feel about her?” she asked after what felt like an eternity.

“What, Chloe?” Max asked. “I, uh… I like her.” 

“Do you like being around her?” Kate continued. 

“Yeah, I guess. I mean, I haven’t been around her that much, but it feels…” Max recalled her feelings from the day before. “Natural, I guess. I don’t know if that makes me sound overly poetic. I mean… it’s… I like…” she groaned softly. Kate giggled. 

“You don’t know much about her, but the feeling of having her around, even just in the same room talking to someone else, feels good, like you’ve known her forever.” It felt like Kate was reading some sort of cheat sheet about Max’s own emotional state which she herself wasn’t even aware had existed. Kate dipped the tip of her left index finger into the tea, like a psychic. It felt like she saw something in there that nobody else did. Max had seen her do that before. It meant she was kind of serious, and deeply thoughtful about something. It was kind of cute, but almost eerie… in a good way, though. She looked up from under her lashes. “Does that sound about right?” she asked. Max hummed. 

“Yeah. Yeah, it does. How did you-” 

“I don’t know.” Kate averted her eyes. “It’s just a familiar feeling, is all.” Max stared at her, mouth slightly ajar. She leaned forward and suddenly knew exactly how Warren felt. 

“Kate… do you have a crush on someone?” 

Kate blushed. “Uh, I… Maybe?” Max chuckled. 

“Don’t tell me about it. Not yet,” she advised. 

“Okay.” Kate smiled. “Okay, I won’t.” 

They kept chatting for another hour or so. About normal things, like school and photography. Max realized she hadn’t taken any photos at the Butterfly Café. Kate comforted her and suggested she take some pictures to show her, Warren and Brooke next time she went there. Max promised she would. Kate showed her her sketchbook. She had improved a lot during the semester, Max noted. It was quite impressive. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks seriously for all the positive feedback this fic got way more attention than i could have hoped for :')


	3. Cutie Waiting in the Cafe(teria)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Max revisits the Butterfly Café.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> mmmm its time for that good gay

Max stood at the door of the Butterfly Café, hands deep in her pockets and cheeks flush from the cold. The sun was already approaching the edge of the horizon and dyeing the clouds pink, but it was much earlier than it had been the first time she’d come here.

She wasn’t going to deny it; she was nervous. Chloe was probably there, with her amazing hair and beautiful voice and perfect face and- and, Max was completely uncertain of if she even remembered Max. To Chloe, Max had probably been nothing more than an average customer. Upon that realization, her mood immediately dropped.

She shifted from one foot to another, considered how weird she must’ve looked to bypassers, breathed in, breathed out, and went inside.

Max had already forgotten how incredible the smell of coffee and fresh baked croissants was here. Rachel was at the counter again. She was on her phone, which was obvious although she tried to half-heartedly hide it behind the counter. She looked up and smiled when she saw Max. In a quick movement of her wrist, the phone was tucked into a pocket that Max couldn’t see, and Rachel was leaning her elbows against the counter.

“Max!” she exclaimed. Max was surprised Rachel remembered her name. Maybe she was just really good at keeping tabs on the customers and/or matching names to faces, which was slightly weird, but Max wouldn’t put it past her.

“Hi, Rachel,” Max replied and stepped closer.

“You here for a coffee?”

“Yeah, b-” Max was cut off by Rachel standing up.

“Sweet. The same thing you got last time?” Rachel hummed tentatively. “Coffee with milk?”

_Okay how the fuck does she remember exactly what I ordered._

Max blinked and then nodded frantically. Rachel got to making the coffee and turned her back on her. Max opened her mouth, closed it again, and repeated a few times, like a fish with a twitchy jaw.

“Uh…” she stuttered. “Is Chloe around?” Rachel seemed to freeze momentarily, then she turned her eyes downward, then she looked up again, before turning around and walking back to Max with the coffee.

“Yes. Why do you ask?” Although she was smiling, both her smile and the tone in which she spoke held the slightest hint of being forced. Somehow that made Max think it was extremely forced.

“I… uh… I don’t know.” Suddenly, the realization that she was, in fact, just a customer at a coffee shop asking to see the baker for no good reason whatsoever dawned on her and Max felt her cheeks flush even more than they already had. “I mean, I just… I wanted to talk to her, I guess.”

Rachel grumbled something with a tired, slightly annoyed smile and leaned back, stretching her arms.

“Excuse me?” Max asked, but Rachel didn’t seem to be interested in the topic anymore. She tapped something into the cash register, ignoring Max’s question entirely. It was kind of strange, considering Rachel always seemed so carefree and… independent. Not that Max knew her well.

“I’ll call her in. You want anything with your coffee?”

“I, uh… I don’t- know?”

“Alright, then that’s $2,50.” Rachel was now back to her old peppy self.

“I mea-” Max chuckled to herself when she realized Rachel had misunderstood her. She dug out her wallet, not wanting to press the issue any further. “Yeah. Right. Here you go.”

“Thanks.” Rachel tapped something into the register again until it made the cha-ching sound and she sighed. “Right, I’ll let you two lovebirds get to it. Have fun.” She winked at Max, whose cheeks were now burning.

“I-” she started, but Rachel had already disappeared into the kitchen, yelling at Chloe. Something about leaving early, then some completely understandable complaints in response. Max zoned the rest of it out, instead staring at her coffee and contemplating what had happened in the last few minutes. She picked the cup up and went into one of the booths, still a bit disappointed she hadn’t bought a pastry of any sort. She stared outside, until the sound of footsteps at the counter caught her attention.

There she was. Chloe herself. It looked like she hadn’t bothered to even pretend to look like a barista. She wasn’t wearing her apron. Instead, the loose tank top that it had been covering was now fully visible, as well as the black bra straps on her shoulders and around her ribcage which she didn’t seem to be trying to hide.

Max wanted to look, but she also didn’t, so she decided (and the term is used in an extremely loose manner here) to turn away, only looking in Chloe’s direction from the corner of her eye while frequently glancing at her coffee, as if that somehow reset the amount of time she had been looking.

Luckily, she didn’t even need to do anything, because before Max could even register it, Chloe had thrown herself on the couch opposing Max.

“Hey, Mad Max!” _Mad Max? I’ve only met her once and she’s already using nicknames? Is that weird- ah, whatever. I mean, it’s Chloe. Anything Chloe does is incredible and-_ Max stopped herself from beginning another run-through of every single positive adjective she could think of. Even in her mind, she was unable to speak clearly while Chloe was within 40 feet of her. This was weird. She was weird for being like this around her.

“H- uh, hi,” Max responded, even managing a slight smile that probably looked more shaky than a three-year-old riding a bike without training wheels. Chloe relaxed on the chair.

“I see you’re back for more.” Chloe glanced at the table. “No more pastries, though, huh?”

“I- No! I mean-” shit. “See, Rachel thought I said no, and then I- uh, I mean… I didn’t- say anything, ‘cause I thought it might sound rude and-”

Max was interrupted by the sound of laughter from across the table. Clear, honest laughter, coming from Chloe. It was honestly the most entrancing sound Max had heard in her life. She could listen to it on repeat for 24 hours and still not get bored of it.

“Are you saying you were too much of a weeb to ask for a pastry? Jesus, that’s adorable. I mean, not that I didn’t know.” Chloe stood up. “I’ll treat you to a brownie. My pleasure.” Max’s jaw dropped.

“N- no- I,” she started.

“Too late. I’m doing it. I’m giving you a brownie.” Chloe sauntered behind the counter and took out a brownie. When she saw Max staring, she winked and walked back over.

“Shouldn’t you pay for that?” Max leaned against the table.

“I made this. I legally own the copyright to this brownie,” Chloe responded and slid the plate towards Max before unceremoniously throwing herself back onto the couch.

“I-” Max was completely speechless. “I don’t think that’s how copyright works.” More of that incredible Chloe laughter followed. Max stabbed at the brownie with her coffee spoon.

“You know, you can’t just give away free brownies to everyone that shows up in this café.”

“Oh, trust me, I don’t,” Chloe responded with confidence and another wink. “Only the cute ones.” Max was pretty sure that not only were her cheeks pink as the sky outside, but that the same hue was beginning to reach her ears as well.

“I… capitalism probably doesn’t take that well,” she eventually managed, although a bit tentatively. Chloe leaned her forearms on the table, which was quite cold and it started to dawn on Max that Chloe was prancing around the café in a tank top while Max was freezing even while wearing a jacket.

“Capitalism never liked me anyway,” Chloe shot back. “I’m too poor for that shit.” Max chuckled and took a bite from the brownie. God, it was so good. It was absolutely impossible for Max’s mind to comprehend how Chloe was “too poor for that shit.” Anyone with this kind of baking skill should be best friends with Gordon Ramsay.

“How are you not famous yet? Your baking is so good.” Max noted, leaning back in her chair while the coffee mug warmed her hands.

“I guess the world just doesn’t know talent even when it tastes it,” Chloe replied nonchalantly. “Hella disappointing, I know.” Max snorted.

“Hella? Who says that?”

“Rachel, I guess. She’s been rubbing off on me.” Chloe looked at Max for a moment with a strange look on her face. “Anyway, tell me about yourself. What’s a doe-eyed gal like you doing in a this part of Portland?” Max rolled her eyes.

“What’s there to say. I moved here in August to study photography. Went to high school in a fishing town by the coast before that.”

“Photography? You truly are a hipster.” Chloe grinned.

“I have a taste for the vintage,” Max responded, pulling her run-down Polaroid camera out of her bag. Chloe wheezed.

“Holy shit, is that a Polaroid? God, I take it back. You’re more than truly a hipster. You’re, like, the definition of hipster.”

“Shut up!” Max exclaimed, playfully punching Chloe’s forearm across the table while that incredible sound of laughter echoed in the café again. She carefully put the camera away.

“So, what about you?”

“What about me?” Chloe asked.

“Why are you here? Instead of… MasterChef or something.”

“Oh.” Chloe rolled her eyes in thought and crossed her arms behind her head. “Let’s see. I moved to Portland way back when I was, like, what, fifteen, sixteen? Rachel had just graduated and my mom and I followed her family here, because they were basically the only thing besides my mom’s job at a shitty diner keeping us back at the town we used to live at. My mom started saving up money here and eventually opened this place.” She waved her arm at their surroundings. Max’s eyes widened.

“You mean-”

“Yep, my mom owns this place.” Chloe grinned. “Home, sweet home.”

“Is she as good a baker as you?” Max asked when she realized she’d been chowing down on the brownie, of which only a small piece remained, while Chloe was telling her story.

“Nope. That is probably the one single thing she can’t beat me at. But she is a master of savory foods, unlike me.” Chloe smiled. “Anything that doesn’t have some kind of flour in it, I am completely lost with. ‘Cept for gluten-free pastries and shit.”

“Right.” Max fiddled with her cup. Chloe looked around, clearly looking for something to say. Honestly it was kind of adorable, but Max was comfortable with the silence. She wasn’t about to break it with small talk, which she wasn’t very good at to begin with.

She sipped her coffee, and out of the corner of her eye could’ve sworn she saw Chloe staring at her, but when she looked, she saw that barista was just examining her nails, which were painted blue, probably for thematic appropriateness.

“So,” Chloe finally said. “Are you just going to come here every other day or do you want to trade numbers?” Max, who had been getting reasonably comfortable in her seat, suddenly tensed up and blushed.

“Oh. Yeah! I mean- yeah. Right- okay, yeah! ...mm.” She fumbled to pull her phone out of her pocket and heard Chloe laugh.

“Pass me the phone. I’ll save my number and send myself a text so I get yours.” Max slid the phone across the table and Chloe took it, tapping something in while grinning maliciously. Max stared intensely until Chloe handed her old Samsung back. Max quickly checked the phone to find that Chloe had named herself “Evanis Anne Assclown.”

_**You** _  
_hey u wanna buy weed_  
_10/02 18:22 pm_

Chloe pulled out her phone and gasped in mock exasperation.

“How dare you? I would never!” Max couldn’t help but snort before breaking out into out-right laughter.

“Hey, come on, it wasn’t that funny,” Chloe snorted. “Okay. Maybe it was.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> god this chap was almost late and it's also short i'm so sorry about that!!!


	4. Soul Sisters

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh i bet you thought i was late but hah! think again! i had the whole thing planned
> 
> because guess what day it is today for me as of posting this? the 7th of october! happy anniversary to max getting her powers whee!!!! i'm going to post another chapter on the 11th to celebrate the anniversary of the tornado hitting arcadia bay too, because i can
> 
> so i adjusted the previous chapter to take place on october 2nd, 2015 instead of october 8th, 2015, to allow this chapter to take place on october 7th! even though october 7th was a wednesday in 2015 and this chapter is supposed to take place on a weekend. lets just pretend mkay? mkay good
> 
> i had a ton of fun writing this chapter, im super proud of and i actually almost cried from sheer emotional impact while writing it so i hope you like it as much as i do!!! thank all of you for all the feedback on the previous chapters <3
> 
> this chapter is perfectly in time for the 1000th hit on the fic! yey! we're now in quadruple digits, which is absolutely incredible!

Max’s phone buzzed again. It took her less than a second to pull it out of her pocket and see the new members of a group of texts she’d read through seven hundred times that day alone.

_[10/07 4:08 pm] **You:** What’s up? (´｡• ᵕ •｡`) _

_[10/07 4:09 pm] **Evanis Anne Assclown:** god don’t use emoji max weve talked about this _

_[10/07 4:09 pm] **You:** You can’t stop me (✧ω✧) _

_[10/07 4:09 pm] **Evanis Anne Assclown:** you make me sick _

_[10/07 4:09 pm] **Evanis Anne Assclown:** anyway i get out of here at 5 today so if you wanna hang you know where to find me _

_[10/07 4:10 pm] **You:** I’ll be there  <3 _

_[10/07 4:44 pm] **Evanis Anne Assclown:** cute _

_[10/07 4:45 pm] **Evanis Anne Assclown:** you better be because it is bo-ring. _

Max smiled to herself. She tried to keep the blush off of her cheeks when she stuffed her phone into her pocket and hopped off the bus at her station. It was colder than the days before. Winter was fast approaching. Max didn’t mind. There was still the prospect of Halloween coming up later this month.

_I wonder if Chloe’s making any Halloween pastries_ , Max thought. She bit her lip under her Ravenclaw scarf. The walk down to the Butterfly Café felt way longer than it had before today, giving her ample time to really hone in on the butterflies in her stomach. 

She’d been messaging with Chloe non-stop since she they exchanged contacts and it hadn’t helped her crush in the slightest. And Max definitely didn’t want Chloe to find out that she changed her phone background to that selfie Chloe sent her that she said she was especially proud of… _and for good reason._ Max shook her head a little and hummed thoughtfully. 

It was still kind of surreal to her. The concept of Chloe actually being interested in, at the very least, befriending her. Maybe she hadn’t been lying when she said she didn’t tell everyone about pretending to do alchemy while baking. And Max had asked her to confirm it. It was true. Or maybe it wasn’t but Chloe refused to admit that. 

And even if one day it turned out to be a lie, Max would refuse to stop teasing her about it. 

The Butterfly Café was as inviting as ever, warm light streaming from the windows onto the damp street. A couple familiar faces were inside. Justin, whom Max had learned was one of Chloe’s friends, along with another guy who Max didn’t recognize. Then there were a few people who Max had never seen as well. 

Stepping into the Café felt like a fresh experience every time, although this time it had a surprising twist. Instead of Rachel’s smile and long hair, Max was greeted by an unenthusiastic punk with a bright blue head. That is, unenthusiastic until she saw Max. 

“Maxi-Pad!” Chloe exclaimed. “You’re finally here. God, what took you so long?” 

“Sorry- wait, it’s still 4:50. I’m nowhere near late,” Max said in confusion. Chloe sneered. 

“Yeah. That’s what you think. Hold up, I have something for you.” She stood from the counter and kneeled down. She placed a plate with a slice of sponge cake on the table and stood back up with the brightest grin on her face. “I made it just for thou, Maxaroni. I want you to taste it. Tell me if it’s good.” 

Max blinked. 

“Wh- Are you offering me free food? Again?” 

“You better believe it. Now eat the goddamn cake.” 

Max huffed and rolled her eyes playfully. She took the tiny cake fork into her hand and cut off a small piece from the cake, stabbing it. She looked up at Chloe, who raised her eyebrows expectantly. Max kept eye contact with her while she brought the fork to her mouth slowly and closed her mouth around it. 

Then she got tired of it and just bit into the piece of cake. 

It was absolutely incredible. 

It was all the sweetness and moistness and texture of a regular sponge cake, except with a little taste of lemon that sent Max’s tastebuds into overdrive. Somehow, the lemon was sweet too; the whole thing was almost too sweet, but it wasn’t. It was perfect and melted onto Max’s tongue. It was airy and light, but still also heavy. Max wondered if Chloe used whipped cream in this particular recipe, because it sure reminded her of it. 

_“Holy shit,”_ she whispered after swallowing the biteful of cake- no, not swallowing. More like waiting for it to dissolve in her mouth. Chloe leaned against the counter. 

“Do you like it?” she asked with all the excitement of an entire girl scout troop that just baked their first batch of cookies. 

“Uh, I fucking love it,” Max exclaimed and stuffed another forkful in her mouth. Not even to emphasize her point or anything. The cake was just so good. She kept stuffing it in her mouth while Chloe sighed and hopped to sit on the counter. 

“Hella fucking yes! I’ve been working on this recipe for like, two weeks now just waiting so tha- I mean, I…” She rubbed the back of her neck and chuckled nervously. “I don’t know, I’m just really glad you like it. ...Uh, do you want to save some of that for… sometime that isn’t immediately?” Max stopped in the middle of putting another piece of cake in her mouth and looked at Chloe, then at the cake again, then at Chloe again. 

Chloe chuckled and patted the top of Max’s head. Max put down the fork and tried to resist the stupid grin appearing on her face, which proved unsuccessful. 

“Seriously that’s hella a relief. Anyway, I’m gonna go fix up the kitchen and change clothes and get out of here. I don’t think anyone’s gonna show up anymore. If they do, tell them to fuck off.” 

“I’m not going to tell them to fuck off.” 

“I know you won’t. Thanks for saving my career. Enjoy your lemon sponge cake á la Chloe Price.” Chloe winked and hopped off the counter. Max stared at her back until she was gone and the kitchen door moved back and forth a little. She fiddled with the cake for a few second until someone spoke from the other side of the café. 

“Hey, you there.” Max turned to look at the blonde girl in one of the corner booths with a half-empty cappuccino cup in front of her. The girl gestured Max to come over with her hand. Max gestured to her chest in a “what, me” manner in response. The girl rolled her eyes and nodded. 

Max stood up, grabbed the plate and hopped over to the girl, taking a seat across from her awkwardly while constantly glancing in the girl’s direction for any explanation of what the fuck was going on. Something in the girl was familiar; Max couldn’t place it, but there was something about her face, her golden pixie cut and her fancy black cashmere that reminded her of something. 

She wasn’t sure they were pleasant memories. 

After Max sat down, the girl smacked her lips and eyed her curiously. 

“So you are the famous Max.” She rolled her neck. “They don’t want me to say this because they think they can take care of themselves or whatever, but if you hurt them, you’re fucking dead, m’kay?” That tone. That voice. That unbearable way she cocked her eyebrows and pursed her lips while she spoke. 

“Wait- Victoria Chase?” Max asked with a puzzled expression. “What the fuck are you doing here?” 

“Uh, I don’t know how you know my name, but my best friends work here,” Victoria responded. “Should I be aware of who you are or something?” 

“I went to Blackwell Academy at the same time as you.” Max brushed a strand of hair behind her ear. “You know, quiet hipster girl? Photography class?” 

Victoria’s expression was momentarily transformed into one of surprise and realization and she let out a quiet and slightly condescending _‘oh.’_

“Right. I remember you. You’re the one that ducked out of the Everyday Heroes contest for no reason whatsoever and let me win instead. Thanks for that. Anyway, I don’t give a shit. Did you hear what I said?” Max blinked rapidly. 

“I- uh…” Victoria took a few moments to stare at Max. She almost looked in thought. 

“I said,” she said, now with a bit more aggression, “don’t fucking hurt Price, or your ass is toast. You got that?” Max’s mouth opened on its own, but she quickly closed it. 

“Wh- I, yeah, okay. Why do you care about what happens to Chloe again?” 

“Because Chloe’s one of my best friends- God, you’re so fucking idiotic. I have no idea what either of them sees in you.” It took approximately a billion years for Max’s mind to catch up with anything Victoria said. 

“I’m- Wait, what did you just say?” she asked. “About- what, why do you know my name?” Victoria snorted. 

“You are so. Stupid! It’s because Chloe won’t shut her fucking mouth about you!” 

“She won’t what?” Max barely had time to finish her sentence when she heard Chloe barge out of the kitchen. She and Victoria both turned to look at her, seeing her frantically look around the empty café until her eyes locked onto their booth and she leaped over the counter. 

“Maxaroni! I see you met Vicky here!” Victoria tried to protest something, likely the nickname, but Chloe hushed her by sitting on the table and causing a minor earthquake on it. Whatever complaint Victoria had in mind became a shriek as she leaped to save her cappuccino, which was about to fall over. Chloe glanced at her in victorious glee. 

“So, I’m supposed to close the café up now. You guys gonna chill here behind locked doors or-?” 

“She’s asking you on a date,” Victoria interrupted. Chloe’s mouth turned into a sharp line. Max, for one, still had absolutely no idea what was going on in front of her. 

“No, I’m not. I’m just hella hungry. And there’s a taco place nearby which isn’t closing for a couple hours, so I was wondering if maybe one of you hippies was willing to eat something that didn’t consist mostly of sugar and fat.” 

“Yeah, and instead eat something that consists mostly of salt and fat? No thanks, Price. I’m out.” Victoria stood up and walked to the front door, wrapping her fancy woollen scarf tighter around her neck. 

“Later, bitch,” Chloe called after her. Victoria gave her the finger before walking out into the evening, probably to drive home on the preppiest Cadillac on the face of the Earth. Max looked after her, blinking rapidly, still in total shock over everything that just happened. 

“Earth to Mad Max,” Chloe said. Max realized she’d probably been staring after Victoria for an abnormal amount of time by standards of staring after someone who just left the room. She looked up at Chloe, who was lit by the faint café lights in the most beautiful manner ever. Max resisted the urge to pull out her camera, although Chloe probably wouldn’t have minded even if she snapped a photo. 

“Uh, r- rightttt,” she stuttered. “Tacos.” Chloe chuckled and hopped off the booth table, offering her hand to Max, who gladly took it. 

“Tacos!” 

Chloe lead Max to a hole-in-the-wall taco place, where an unenthusiastic punk boy who didn’t seem like the appropriate age to have that many piercings and tattoos served them food. 

“You literally work at a café, I wouldn’t expect you to be hungry,” Max noted when Chloe got the everything taco. “Besides, isn’t your mom an amazing cook?” 

“So she is, but my step-ass is around tonight, and the longer I can avoid him, the better,” Chloe responded, biting into her taco. It left a glorious amount of tomato sauce all around her mouth. Max chuckled into her wool glove. She’d heard all about this step-ass/step-dick/step-douche of Chloe’s. He went by many names, according to Chloe, one of them being David. But apparently Chloe preferred ‘Sergeant Shithead.’ 

She assured Max it wasn’t even her best work in the medium of insulting nicknames. 

Over their little dinner, Max couldn’t stop staring at Chloe. At her old leather jacket covered with a fluffy, ivory-coloured inside; like a pilot jacket, except punk. At her nails perfectly painted blue. Rachel had probably done them. At her hair, which was half-covered in an old navy blue beanie. At her shirt, depicting a snake. At her eyes, which were still the same bright colour they’d been when they first met, but now reflected the purple and yellow of the taco place’s lights. 

Max looked at her own hands, studying the insides of her taco with disproportionate interest. Not really. She wasn’t concentrating on the taco. _If Chloe’s mouth is covered in tomato sauce stains,_ she thought, _how messy must my face be right now?_ She found herself using napkins a lot more than she usually did. Was the cold nipping at her ears more than usual or did they feel flushed for some other reason? 

“You need more paper or are you good?” Chloe asked. Max immediately dropped the napkin she was cleaning the corners of her mouth with. Chloe laughed. “You’re fine. You’re a much cleaner eater than me. Don’t worry about it,” she said gleefully. 

A little bit of the knot in Max’s belly untied itself. She hummed and bit into her taco. 

“So,” Chloe said, leaning back in her chair. “I couldn’t help but notice your scarf.” Max looked up in surprise and blinked. 

“Uh, you’re a Ravenclaw, huh?” 

“Y- yeah,” Max stuttered. 

“Nice.” Chloe flexed. “Gryffindor pride!” Max laughed. 

“Let me guess. Your favourite class would be potions, right?” Upon Chloe’s confused expression, Max cleared her throat. “...Alchemy.” 

“Oooooooohhh,” Chloe responded. She wheezed and broke into a fit of laughter. Max giggled alongside her. 

After they’d finished their tacos, Max walked Chloe back a few blocks away from the Café. The whole time, Chloe explained to her why the Director’s Cut of Blade Runner (an underrated classic, truly) was so much better than the Original Cut, and also why Deckard was definitely a Replicant. While Max herself wasn’t big on the latter theory, she loved listening to Chloe talk about she was passionate about. 

“So,” Chloe said. “You take any good photos?” Max blinked in surprise at the sudden change of topic. 

“Well… uh… y- yeah, I guess,” she responded. Chloe smiled at her, glanced at her bag and then back at her face. It took Max a few moments to realize what she was trying to communicate. 

“Oh! Shi- Yeah, hold on,” she said, stumbling to pull out a few Polaroids she was particularly proud of out of her bag. She examined each one. One of the sunset over the beach, another of herself in bed with closed eyes that she’d managed to frame so it looked like someone else had taken it, and a picture of a deer that she’d seen at the edge of town. “Here.” 

Chloe took the photos and inspected them all with unreasonable concentration. 

“Holy fuck,” she breathed. “These are so good, Max!” Max could practically feel her cheeks becoming even redder than they already were. 

“Thanks.” 

“Take a picture of me,” Chloe suggested suddenly. 

“Oh, I, uh-” Max stammered. She stepped back and looked around the frame. This would actually make a pretty good shot. The moonlight was shining right on Chloe’s face so it was unobscured, and with her bright clothes and blue hair, she practically popped out of her surroundings. Behind her, the faded, distant streetlights created a dreamy effect. 

Max smiled and brought up her hands to make a square around Chloe. 

“Yeah,” she huffed before digging for her camera in her bag. “Yeah, I will.” 

The shot turned out amazing. Who knew Chloe was so photogenic? Her eyes looked even better in the photo than Max could have expected. Her mouth was caught in a grin of pure delight and mischief. Even Chloe herself seemed surprised at how happy she looked. 

The picture was beautiful. 

Chloe stopped in front of a familiar apartment building eventually and gestured to it. 

“Well, here we are. City living.” 

“Isn’t this- the same building that the Café is in?” Max asked. “Did you lead me around in a circle?” 

Chloe wheezed. 

“You didn’t even realize!” 

Max punched her on the arm gently. But she was laughing too. After they each calmed down, Chloe crossed her arms. 

“Well, anyway, I guess I’ll talk to you later?” she said a little bit awkwardly. Max knew how she felt. Or at least, she felt like she hoped Chloe felt, too. She didn’t want this evening to end. Chloe turned to walk towards the apartment building door. 

“Wait, Chloe,” Max exclaimed. Chloe immediately stopped and turned around. Max offered her hand, where the picture of Chloe she’d taken was. “Here. I want you to have it.” 

Chloe’s jaw dropped the slightest bit. She glanced at the picture, then at Max, then at the picture again, and back at Max with a surprised blink. Then, slowly, an apologetic smile formed on her face and she shook her head. 

“No, I can’t. I- I mean, it’s- it’s your photo. I can’t take it from you,” she stammered, shaking her hands in front of her in a denying motion. 

“No, Chloe, I want you to have it.” Max stepped closer. “For God’s sake, just take the goddamn Polaroid.” 

Chloe stopped and glanced at the photo again before stepping closer. She was right in front of Max. Their feet were touching at the tips. Slowly, she reached out and took the photo from Max’s hand. 

“Thanks,” she mumbled, rocking back and forth on her heels. Max looked at her face. Her smile was so beautiful and the blue of the street light coloured her cheeks pale lilac. Max could feel her heartbeat through her gloves. She was near painfully aware of every inch where Chloe’s hands touched hers, and each one was like molten gold. 

She didn’t trust her voice to respond to Chloe properly, so she didn’t say anything, just hummed and avoided eye contact. When Chloe took a deep breath, Max lifted her gaze, and for a few brief moments, stared her straight in the eye. Chloe stared right back. 

Then, out of complete instinct, Max leaned forward and pressed her lips on Chloe’s cheek. At the moment, it felt completely natural. When her mouth met Chloe’s skin, time seemed to freeze. Every sensation was a hundred-fold. The heat of Chloe’s blush, the smell of leather and hair dye and something else that Max couldn’t recognize on her. The very texture of Chloe’s skin. 

Then she moved away, even though some part of her was telling her not to. When she saw that Chloe’s eyes were as wide as the ocean, which was also coincidentally the colour they were, suddenly Max realized what she’d done. In panic, she looked down and pushed away Chloe’s hands, along with the photograph. Max took a step back and shot one last look at the Chloe, whose mouth was opening and closing like a fish on dry land, before she turned around and ran away. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i swear that alchemy thing is like the chekhov's gun of this fanfiction innit
> 
> yes, i know how terrible the texting looks and that it changes in every chapter but just, bear with me, ao3's coding has a grudge against my family for some reason


	5. Honeybody

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> we're officially entering the "song lyrics for chapter titles" world
> 
> anyway this is where the gay officially starts
> 
> i just finished playing the fifth episode of life is strange a few hours ago, thus officially ending life is strange week.
> 
> happy october 11!

Max rubbed her temples, stared intensely at the math problem, like that would somehow make it solve itself, and sighed in exasperation when nothing happened. Kate shifted next to her, shooting her a curious look. She always looked so innocent.

“I hate math,” Max hissed, leaning back in the library chair. Kate smiled at her apologetically and leaned her arms against the table.

“No, you don’t,” she affirmed Max and leaned over to take a look at Max’s assignment. “I get that you don’t like it, but that doesn’t look that complex. I’m sure it’s not that difficult.” Upon Max’s disappointed look, Kate giggled. “I’ll help you. See, you just need to find the inverse of _h_ , right? So if _h(x)_ equals…”

While Max was an absolute disaster with math, Kate was excellent at explaining stuff. Max was lucky to have all her closest friends be great at algebra, so she basically only had to do the bare minimum of her work as they guided her through it.

“Thanks for the help,” Max said as her pen crossed the last x of the equation. Kate hummed in response and continued writing in her notebook with her pretty, swirly handwriting. Max, personally, could barely make any sense of it, but Kate herself seemed to be able to read it fine, so it was probably okay.

Max’s phone buzzed in her pocket. She took it out routinely. Upon realizing what the notification was, she dropped the phone.

“Oh-” Her voice was louder than she intended it to be, so she shut her mouth before some angry librarian materialized to complain to her. Kate looked up at her in surprise and concern.

“What? What is it?” Max’s mouth opened and closed. She stared at the phone with her eyebrows raised like her eyes would make the message disappear.

She didn’t know what she’d been expecting.

“I-I think Chloe sent me a text,” Max managed and loosened her shoulders only enough to move normally.

“What does it say?” Kate asked. She knew the whole sordid tale. Of course, Kate wasn’t the first person Max would approach about her love life troubles. She didn’t really care about that stuff. But Brooke did. And she was a terrible gossip. She had that in common with Warren, who (alongside Kate) knew about the incident before Max could even lift a finger.

Max knew Chloe wouldn’t judge her at all even if she knew about the crush. Or, well, maybe she would judge. Max didn’t _know_ , but she did _feel_ like Chloe wouldn’t be one to let that get in the middle of a friendship.

That didn’t make her any less anxious.

Still, she picked up the phone and checked it. The message was still there, it hadn’t gone anywhere in the few moments the phone was undisturbed. Always worth hoping.

_[10/08 5:52 pm] **Evanis Anne Assclown:** hey mad max_

Max opened the messaging app tentatively, and found that Chloe was still typing. She waited until the phone buzzed again and another message appeared, promptly followed by a third one and then a fourth one.

_[10/08 5:54 pm] **Evanis Anne Assclown:** hanging out_

_[10/08 5:54 pm] **Evanis Anne Assclown:** sellwood riverfront park beach today 6.30_

_[10/08 5:54 pm] **Evanis Anne Assclown:** be there_

Kate leaned on Max’s shoulder to see the messages. Max didn’t stop her. She definitely needed some moral support for this.

“Should I go?” she asked quietly, hovering her finger over the _‘type here’_ box. Kate hummed and leaned against the table, tapping the back end of her pen against her chin thoughtfully.

“Of course you should go,” she said after an agonizing moment and turned to look Max straight in the eye. “You need to talk to her about it. I know you’re nervous, but it’s not fair to just… avoid her. It was only yesterday. Maybe you should… I don’t know…” she twirled her pen in her hand. “Rip it off like a bandaid, you know? Your anxiety.”

“That makes… a surprising amount of sense,” Max surmised. “But-”

“She won’t judge you,” Kate responded before Max even started. Max shut her mouth and sighed. Kate set her hand on her shoulder reassuringly. “Max. You’re working yourself up over nothing. She likes you. I don’t know if she… like-likes you, but at the very least, she wants to be your friend.”

“Yeah. Or then she’s waiting to tell me off,” Max hummed.

“Do you really think Chloe would cut you out of her life just because you surprise-kissed her on the cheek?” There was a certain wisdom in Kate’s expression, even though mostly it was half-smug encouragement, if that makes any sense. Max looked at her, then turned towards the desk with a sigh.

“No, she wouldn’t.”

“Mm.” Kate started arranging her schoolbooks and checked her wristwatch. “You should get going. It’s 6 now. If you want to get to Sellwood Park by six thirty, it’s time to hurry.” Max relaxed a little and slipped her math notebook and pencil case into her bag.

“Thanks, Kate,” she muttered and brushed her hand across Kate’s shoulder blades when she slipped past her. Kate smiled.

“No worries.”

Max caught the bus just barely and sent Chloe an affirmative text. The bus ride couldn’t have gone faster. Everything went so slow when you were waiting for something, and so quick when you were dreading it. But Max still only arrived at the park at 6:22. She dashed through it and hopped down the steps to the beach. The sunset light coated the rocky sand.

Not a lot of people were around anymore. A few families packing their bags, a couple loners walking dogs. No sign of Chloe, though, no matter how much Max looked around the relatively small beach, so she found herself a nice spot near the beach steps. The sun was beginning to set now, although its lower rim was slightly obscured by the forest across the river.

Max pulled out her phone, scrolling through her chat with Chloe to make sure she had, in fact, said six thirty PM. She had, but Max kept reading the messages over and over to make sure that she had understood correctly. Usually, when Chloe set a time for something, she’d be pissed if Max wasn’t there when the hour struck- even if she wasn’t there herself. Max found herself getting a little bored as her phone’s clock passed into 6:33.

“Oh wow, you actually kept my name as ‘Evanis Anne Assclown?’” Max almost jumped five feet in the air when suddenly a voice sounded right behind her head and gentle hands were placed on her shoulders. She let out a little squeak, and Chloe chuckled.

“Jesus, chill, it’s just me.” She took a seat next to Max nonchalantly. Max stared at her and blinked rapidly. Chloe was wearing a slightly different shirt this time. A leather jacket and a white tank-top, still, but with a new pattern. This one had a skull. She also had her necklace, as always.

She had a lit cigarette in her mouth, although it didn’t smell like a cigarette. It was the same scent Max had smelled on Chloe when she gave her that fateful kiss on the cheek.

God, the kiss... it wasn’t that big a deal, was it? Max was definitely overreacting.

“Brought you something,” Chloe suddenly said and pulled a small plastic box from her bag (which Max hadn’t even noticed) and gave it to Max. Max popped the lid of the box off and peered inside.

“It’s a double chocolate cupcake,” she stated matter-of-factly. “Like the one I ate when I first came to the Butterfly.” Really, free food? Again? Chloe hummed and leaned back on the sand, smiling around her cigarette-or-whatever.

“Thought it’d… be symbolic or something. I don’t know.” She looked down at the ground, shuffling her hands awkwardly and looking at Max from the corner of her eye while Max took a bite of the cupcake and savoured it. It was just as good as the one she’d eaten a week or so earlier. 

What level of incredible would a person have to be to bring a cupcake to hangout-time out of nowhere? Some part of Max’s subconscious felt like she was being buttered up, but who in their right mind would mind being buttered up with Chloe Price’s baking? Or, you know, Chloe Price’s anything. Everything. Just… Chloe Price in general.

“The sunset’s hella pretty,” Chloe said, bringing Max back to this mortal plane of existence. She followed Chloe’s eyes up to the sky, which the sun coloured yellow and orange. It was gorgeous. The reflection on the river water played across Chloe’s face. Somehow, it reminded Max of home. Arcadia Bay, that is. Not Seattle.

“What do photographers call that?” Chloe asked. “Other than sunset, I mean.” Max chuckled.

“The golden hour,” she said quietly.

“It’s like one of those photos of yours. You know, the ones you showed me yesterday?” Chloe reminded. Max felt herself tense up a little at the prospect of talking about the previous night. She hid it by taking another bite of Chloe’s gift.

“Mm-hmm,” she hummed to the best of her ability with a mouth full of cupcake. She could practically feel Chloe’s eyes on the back of her head, so she stared at the river. She could hear Chloe shifting in the sand.

“I, uh… What… what was yesterday… about?” Chloe stammered. Max couldn’t bring herself to look her in the eye, so she settled for staring at the suspenders resting on Chloe’s legs with a puzzled expression, which probably didn’t have the same effect as looking at her face. “Uh- shit, I mean… was that like… a serious- like a real thing, or-?”

“What are you trying to ask?” Max asked with more confidence than she thought her body contained. She even managed to bring her eyes to meet Chloe’s.

“I don’t know! I-” Chloe huffed and turned away. It was now her turn to avoid eye contact. With each word, her voice softened, ending up as just a quiet mumble. “I just mean- like, fuck… Were you serious about it?”

Max hugged her knees and did her best to ignore the lump growing in her stomach. That was the question, wasn’t it? _Had_ she been serious? It was kind of a spur of the moment thing, but… it felt so natural.

“Uh… yeah, I think,” she muttered. Chloe scoffed at her response.

“You think?” She wasn’t angry; Max knew what that sounded like. She was nervous. That was a new emotion on her. Max bit her lip and sighed. 

“Yeah, I do.” She felt like her mouth was speaking on its own when she spoke. Chloe looked at her with a mixture of uncertainty and fear. Max’s mind was racing. She furrowed her brow and opened her mouth to speak, but before she could say anything, Chloe’s face relaxed and she even cracked a small smile. She leaned back, dropping onto the sand on her back and propping herself up on her elbows.

“I guess you do, Maxaroni. So does that mean you-” Chloe paused for a fraction of a second. “you’ve got a crush on me?” She had this adorable expression, with her brow the slightest bit furrowed and her mouth a little bit open. Her eyes moved between Max and the forest across the river.

“I’m pretty sure, yeah.” There it was. No going back now… No going back. Absolutely not. Chloe breathed out. She laid down fully, crossed her arms under her head, and chuckled, too. That was a good sign, probably. Hopefully.

“That’s cool.” Okay. Not a good sign. Max rested her chin on her knees and tried to keep disappointment away her body language. She probably didn’t do well, since from the corner of her eye, she saw Chloe’s legs shift as she sat up quickly. Max heard her speak with a shaky voice. “Wait, shit, I meant-”

Max blinked and turned her head slightly at Chloe, whose hand found hers. Even with Max’s surprise, their fingers intertwined like they were built to do so. They looked each other in the eye. Max would never get tired of Chloe’s eyes. Both of their expressions were uncertain. Chloe’s mouth opened and closed, like she was looking for the right words to say.

“I l- I-” She groaned. “God! Shit! Can I kiss you?” The request was so out of nowhere, Max couldn’t stop her mouth from falling open or for her cheeks from promptly turning a bright shade of pink, or for the lump in her stomach to be accompanied by a storm of butterflies.

It seemed Chloe was having similar feelings. Her eyes shifted from Max’s hand, to the ground, to Max’s other hand, still holding the half-eaten cupcake. Her face was completely red, which was probably an extremely rare sight. Max blinked rapidly.

“I- I-” She took a sharp breath in when her brain caught up to the reality of the situation. “Fuck- absolutely!” 

Chloe’s face lit up in surprise and maybe in glee, too. She was still flustered, maybe even more so now, but she wasn’t angry or scared.

“Y- You serious?” she asked, meeting Max’s eyes without a hint of nervousness. Max giggled and nodded.

“Yeah, I’m serious.”

For a moment, Chloe shook her head in disbelief and moved back, her smile as wide as ever. But then her skin was on Max’s and everything was good.

She was soft. Max felt everything in bullet time. The puff of air Chloe breathed out just before her lips found hers. The brief touch of her blue hair against Max’s forehead. Her nose, which bonked slightly against Max’s. And above everything, her lips, smooth and soft. A brief taste of sugar and cookie dough. It was just a quick peck, really, because Max fell over onto the sand out of surprise and the sheer force of Chloe’s excitement.

Chloe fell down besides her, laughing the whole way. Her laughter lit up the whole beach. It was like the sun wasn’t going down at all, but it was high up in the sky and Max was a kid, running around, and Chloe was with her. It made a warm bubbling feeling come up in Max’s stomach. She was laughing too. She hadn’t even noticed.

Eventually, their laughing fit died down. Chloe got up slowly, leaving Max on the sand like a forgotten starfish. Max watched her dust the sand off her tank top, and took her hand when she offered it to her. When she stood up, she felt like hugging Chloe, but she wasn’t sure she had the guts.

“Shit, the cupcake!” Max exclaimed suddenly and turned around to see a sand-covered corpse of a double chocolate cupcake on the ground. No doubt a seagull would still like to eat that. Chloe laughed and wrapped her arms around Max for a surprise hug from behind. _Well, guess that’s the hug thing then,_ Max thought and leaned backwards, resting some of her weight against Chloe.

“Don’t worry about it. We’ll make more cupcakes.” Max felt Chloe move her arms lower, until they were around Max’s belly. Suddenly the ground was no longer touching her feet. She squeaked and Chloe laughed into her hoodie. “Let’s get out of here!”

Chloe was surprisingly quiet over the bus ride to escort Max back home. She just looked out the window and occasionally engaged in short conversations about random topics that had nothing to do with the beach. Max didn’t really mind, since Chloe seemed to still be bursting with joy. She had to collect her thoughts too. At one point, Chloe put her hand on Max’s. Max definitely didn’t mind that, either.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> as much as id like to i probably wont have time to finish another chapter by friday, so this is all yall are getting for this week unless im feeling creative over the weekend
> 
> if this was from chloes perspective youd know that was basically just a "DO YOU WANNA PUT YOUR MOUTH ON MY MOUTH" moment
> 
> dont worry i will eventually make them talk about shit instead of just cutting off the chapter after the kiss


	6. Tell Your Friends It Was Nice to Meet Them / The Walls I've Built Around You

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> turns out i was feeling productive on the weekend
> 
> what's this? a chloe pov chapter? don't worry we'll return to max next chap
> 
> so this chapter was originally two chapters, but they both turned out extremely short and they're supposed to be read at the same time anyway, so i thought "why not combine them into a normal-sized chapter?"
> 
> i really wanted to get these chapters out, since they're really plot-heavy and we're getting into the more dramatic stuff now. don't worry the next chapter will have more soft and gay goodness

It had been raining for days on end. Not continuously, but enough for there to constantly be puddles everywhere, and for the air to permanently smell of petrichor. Right now, it was coming down like the sky had decided to break apart.

Chloe leaned on the wall behind the counter, chatting with Rachel. Technically, she wasn’t supposed to be out of the kitchen while the oven was on, because it was her responsibility, but honestly who gave a shit? Plus Rachel was much better company than the café oven anyway.

“So then when I-” Rachel said, but she was interrupted by the bell at the café door and a frustrated shriek as a completely soaked Victoria stomped into the Butterfly. She slumped her arms on the counter like it wasn’t a big deal that Rachel and Chloe would have to clean it after her.

“I fucking hate October,” Victoria complained, inspecting her nails carefully to check that none of the polish had chipped off. Although Chloe couldn’t actually see Rachel’s face, she could practically feel her eyeroll and Dreamworks expression.

“Chill, Vic, it’s just water,” she said. “Also you’re freaking out the customers, so maybe don’t-”

“Uh, yeah, water on my cashmere! Do you know how much this fucking outfit costs?” Victoria gestured to herself and around her wildly, causing droplets of water to fly everywhere.

“Oh, boo hoo, just buy another one, or like get it dried or whatever,” Chloe told her. She stared down Victoria’s pouty glare. “Aren’t you supposed to be super rich?”

“I am to you,” Victoria sneered. Rachel stood up and did her sassy walk over to the coffee machine, routinely tapping the buttons to prepare a low-fat cappuccino, which she promptly returned to the still-complaining Victoria. “But it’s not like getting this thing fine-dried is a cheap procedure. Thanks Rachel.”

“You want a pastry to go with that? You sound like you could use it,” Rachel recommended. Chloe admired the way she was always trying to convince customers to buy more stuff than they needed or wanted, and with her charisma it actually worked a lot of the time. _That’s the spirit of capitalism right there,_ Chloe thought. _With the right outfit, she’d even look the part._ Chloe’s phone went off in her pocket to alert her that the batch of brownies in the oven was done.

“Guys, I gotta check up on the good shit. Try not to break anything.” Vic rolled her eyes good-heartedly, while Rachel gave her a knowing smirk.

“Like that time you accidentally got the fire alarm to go off for no reason and then after the fire department left, you caused an _actual_ fire but the alarm was temporarily disabled so the old oven got totally wrecked-”

“Yeah, don’t do that,” Chloe interrupted and did her best to ignore the growing look of smug satisfaction on Rachel’s face and schadenfreude on Victoria’s. “Thank you very much.”

When Rachel turned away to convince Victoria to buy a muffin to go with her cappuccino again, Chloe stepped into the kitchen. She checked on the brownies and routinely slipped on her oven mitts and pulled the tray out. The smell of fresh chocolate brownies hit her nose along with the gross heat wave that came from opening the oven door.

On the table next to her, Chloe’s phone vibrated. Chloe kicked the oven door up and then bonked it with her hip to close it completely. She set down the tray and took one of her hands from the oven mitts to check the phone.

_[10/11 2:48 PM] **Maxaroni:** Hey, you know the Martian came out last week_

_[10/11 2:49 PM] **Maxaroni:** I was wondering if you wanted to go see it with me? (´• ω •`)_

Chloe smiled to herself. She’d been chatting with Max all week, although they’d avoided the biggest conversation of all: the beach episode. Neither of them was really the best at talking about feelings. Max was better at it, but she was terrible with people.

Chloe thought maybe it was a discussion best left for a face-to-face meeting, which they so far hadn’t had besides Max visiting the café a few times, which were mostly hurried because of Max’s studies or interrupted by Rachel or Victoria… or Kate.

Max had introduced Chloe to some of her friends from university. Warren and Brooke were a tad too nerdy for Chloe’s taste, so the three of them didn’t really become the best of friends. She didn’t dislike them, they were just too different from her.

She was way different from Kate, too, of course, but there was something about her that she had in common with Chloe. They just got along, which greatly delighted Max. Kate had taken a liking to Chloe’s Danish pastries, so she sometimes even showed up without Max.

Chloe grabbed the phone and tapped a response without hesitation

_[10/11 2:50 PM] **You:** absolutely_

_[10/11 2:50 PM] **You:** but i will have to punch you for every emoji you use_

_[10/11 2:51 PM] **You:** when you free?_

_[10/11 2:52 PM] **Maxaroni:** Maybe next Saturday? Does that work for you?_

Chloe kept chatting with Max as she cut the solid tray of brownie into sizable singular brownies. Eventually, she went back into the café area. Rachel was sitting on a table at the booth where Victoria was sitting, engaged in light-hearted conversation.

“What’s up, my cranky crew?” Chloe asked and slid confidently into the booth next to Victoria. Victoria huffed and moved towards the window to make space.

“We’re great. I take it you didn’t burn down the kitchen again?” Rachel responded confidently. Chloe took a moment to melodramatically look around, like a child trying to hide she did something wrong. Rachel chuckled. “You _were_ in there longer than normal. Just checking.”

“Yeah, I was doing my job,” Chloe sneered. Her phone vibrated in her pocket again and she pulled it out while Rachel and Victoria resumed talking.

_[10/11 2:58 PM] **Maxaroni:** Great! I have to get to class now but see you on Saturday! ♡♡_

_Holy shit she’s so fucking adorable,_ Chloe thought. She was probably staring at the screen weirdly, because suddenly her field of view was obscured by Victoria’s hand waving in front of her.

“Hello? Earth to Chloe?” Chloe blinked and looked up as Victoria drew away her hand. “Who on Earth are you texting? You look like the Joker if he exchanged his white face paint for red.”

“Uhh,” Chloe said and rubbed the back of her neck with her free hand. She had no idea she’d been blushing. “I _was_ texting Max, but she just left for class.”

Vic met her eyes curiously and leaned closer, bringing her hands up together like a detective interrogating a suspect. Chloe didn’t miss the look she shot at Rachel across the table, but Rach seemed to be in her thoughts, busily scrolling through her own phone.

“ _Ooh la la,_ now I’m intrigued. You haven’t put your phone down for two minutes since last weekend.” From Victoria’s words and malicious grin, Chloe got an idea of where this discussion was going. “What exactly did happen when you talked to her on Sunday?”

Chloe hadn’t told her friends the details yet, despite having made them fully aware of her plans to confront Max in the park a few days beforehand. Victoria especially had bugged her about it all week, but she’d kept quiet.

“It’s a long story. Well, not really, but it’s… uh… a story?” Victoria stared at her in disappointment.

“So, what, did she dump you? Doesn’t seem like it.”

“No, she didn’t dump me.” Chloe played with her blue hair. “The opposite, actually.”

Victoria gasped.

“You hooked up?”

“No! We just kissed. And barely even that. I think I surprised her.” Victoria’s eyes widened.

“No fucking way! You finally have a girlfriend!” Chloe smiled at the thought of being able to call Max her girlfriend.

“I don’t think we’re quite there yet.” From the corner of her eye, she thought she saw Rachel glaring at her, but when she turned to look, Rach’s eyes were still glued to the screen of her iPhone. Chloe could’ve sworn she’d seen the dreaded ‘pissed Rachel’ look, plus Rachel was being unusually quiet. She made a mental note to talk to her about it. “It’s… weird.”

* * *

Chloe finished decorating a muffin and set it among the batch of its other completed peers, wiping sweat off her forehead in a smooth motion. It may have been cold and wet outside, but it was hot and humid inside. She was about to begin decorating the next muffin, when a voice surprised her.

“Hi, Chloe,” Rachel greeted. Chloe turned on her heels with glee on her face. Even if Rachel had been behaving kind of strangely earlier that day, but that was no reason not to be glad to be around her. Rachel was, after all, one of the most important people in Chloe’s life.

“Hey, Rach!” she responded. “What’s up?”

“Not much. I was wondering if you wanted to get wasted with me this weekend. Like, on Saturday?”

“Ah, shit, sorry. I’m going to the movies with Max on Saturday. We could hang some other time though?” Chloe explained.

Rachel’s smile immediately dissipated and she crossed her arms, slumping against the wall she was leaning on. She scoffed. “Right.” 

Chloe gave a forced, awkward chuckle. “What, don’t you like her, or what?” Rachel rolled her eyes so dramatically that in any other situation, Chloe would’ve thought she was just joking.

“All you talk about is Max, Chlo. It’s like neither of you even give a shit about the people around you,” she complained.

“What the fuck are you talking about?” Chloe asked, pulling off her oven mitts. Rachel was avoiding eye contact

“I guess you two are just too in love to even notice me and Victoria. At least you have each other, right?” Chloe opened her mouth to say something, but Rachel kept talking. “Have you ever thought, hey, maybe someone else might want to talk with Max for two fucking seconds? Probably not, because you’re Chloe fucking Price. You don’t even think about it before you’ve already hurt someone for good.”

“Rachel, what’s going on? Did something happen?” Chloe reached a hand towards Rachel to grab her shoulder, but Rachel slapped it away.

“No! That’s my fucking problem! Maybe you should- maybe you should try giving a shit about other people for once. You and your precious Max just take up so much of each other’s time, huh?” Now that Chloe was closer, she had a better view of Rachel’s face. Her hair was messed up, her make-up was stained, and her eyes were puffy and teary.

“Rachel, I- I don’t understand-” Chloe started and tried to move closer, but Rachel fucking pushed her away.

“You never do, do you?!” Her voice wasn’t far from a shriek. Okay, now this was getting ridiculous. Chloe felt her brow furrow and her hands ball up into fists by instinct.

“Yeah, I do! And I would now, too, if you actually talked to me instead of showing up smiling and then turning into a complete bitch in seconds and… and accusing me of things without even explaining what the fuck you mean! If you told me what in the name of God you were talking about-”

“If you used your eyes and brain at the same time for a change, I wouldn’t have to explain!” Rachel snapped. Chloe scoffed.

“So now I’m a douchebag because I can’t pick up on vague-ass signals that you’ve been dropping since like never? What is it about Max you hate so much since you can’t even be in the same room as her without going all weird and quiet, huh? I’ve only known her for a week-”

“Yeah, a week during which you’ve done nothing but hit on her and completely ignore me! You’re so fucking wrong, you don’t even know it!” Tears were flowing from Rachel’s eyes now, but it was too late for that to change Chloe’s mind. Rachel had crossed the line. She had to suffer the consequences.

“What, so you need me to constantly stand next to you and never so much as lay an eye on anybody else? What’s your problem? What the fuck is it that you want from me?”

“Maybe leave her alone for a minute so the rest of us get a chance to talk to her too! You’re not the only one in this café with emotions!” Rachel cried and turned around to storm out through the back door.

“Rachel!” Chloe called after her, but it was too late. When Rachel Amber storms out, she’s not coming back anytime soon. That didn’t stop Chloe from screaming. “Rachel, come fucking back!”

Something hot and wet streamed down Chloe’s face. She hadn’t even realized it, but she was crying. That was the problem with Rachel crying. Whenever she did, everyone around her did, too. Chloe slumped down on the ground and leaned against the cupboards.

 _Maybe it’ll pass over in a few hours and she’ll text me telling me how sorry she is,_ one part of her brain said.

 _Yeah, right,_ another part replied. _Because that’s a realistic thing for Rachel to do._


	7. To Look in Somebody's Eyes, To Light Up The Skies

Max tugged the edges of the t-shirt over her head and groaned when her phone buzzed. Could there be a more awkward moment to get a text? She struggled through her room with her arms stuck in the air, constrained by a white shirt. If she lived with someone, she would not want them to see this moment.

The phone buzzed again, almost impatiently, and Max grumbled into the fabric. She shimmied until the shirt was on like it was supposed to be and hurried to check on her messages.

_[10/14 5:38 PM] **Evanis Anne Assclown:** pickin u up now_

_[10/14 5:38 PM] **Evanis Anne Assclown:** be there in 5 ish_

_[10/14 5:38 PM] **Evanis Anne Assclown:** maybe a bit more than 5_

Max scoffed to herself happily and tapped away at a response. 

_[10/14 5:40 PM] **You:** No need, the cinema’s just a few blocks down, I can walk_

_[10/14 5:40 PM] **Evanis Anne Assclown:** no way are you walking in this weather youll catch a cold before you even get there_

_[10/14 5:40 PM] **Evanis Anne Assclown:** you cant stop me now_

Max rolled her eyes playfully and turned towards the mirror. Okay. Clean t-shirt, check. Although she wasn’t sure if white was the best colour, in case the theater was clammy and she started sweating or she got a food stain when they were eating or something. Eh, whatever. 

Loose jeans, check. As much as she wanted to impress Chloe, skinny jeans just made Max’s legs look like sticks. No way was she showing up to her first real date with Chloe looking like a plank on a diet. She scrambled to find some nice accessories and eventually settled for some colourful bracelets and a deer pin that she attached onto her usual old hoodie, which was just out of the dryer. She didn’t wash it very often, but it was a special occasion. 

She leaned closer to the mirror to inspect her make-up. It was the same as always, but she wondered if it was too excessive, or not enough. No, it was good. It was fine. She looked fine. 

Max gave herself one last look in the mirror and took a deep breath. _Okay, so you’re about to go to the movies,_ she told herself. _And it’s with Chloe. But that’s okay, it’s cool, just act natural. Be yourself, or whatever._

With her bag packed (and a quick check that she did, in fact, have her keys) and her appearance in condition, Max head downstairs to the door of her apartment. When she saw the weather outside, she considered the possibility that maybe Chloe had been right to stop her from walking to the movie theater. 

Rain was pouring down so thick that it basically acted as fog. If she was lucky, she could see 10 feet outside her door. Max decided to wait for Chloe to show up inside the apartment doors. 

She was nothing short of relieved when a familiar old pickup truck showed up square outside her door. Max hurried across the sidewalk and hopped into the car, where Chloe was already looking smug… and gorgeous. 

She was wearing a white tank top, picturing a black-and-white butterfly. Over it, she had a blue flannel shirt, as well as her three-bullet necklace. Her jeans were darker than her usual ones, and lacked the suspenders that usually hung next to her legs. Her hair, covered by her usual beanie, was clean and it appeared she’d curled it a bit, since it was a little fluffier than usual. It suited her. 

“Aren’t you glad I didn’t let you get disintegrated by the rain?” Chloe asked and leaned back in her seat. 

“Absolutely,” Max responded. She leaned her head against the window. The rain beat against the windshield so hard that Max was half-expecting it to crack the glass. She had only seen this kind of weather once or twice during her life. Thankfully, Chloe was driving quite carefully. She might’ve been a free spirit, but she wasn’t totally crazy. 

They arrived at the cinema just in time to buy some popcorn and drinks. Chloe bought herself M&M’s and Coca Cola. 

“I’m pourin’ some of these-” she held up the M&M bag- “in here,” she said, lifting the cola cup towards Max, and laughed at the weird look Max gave her. The two nestled into their seats while some of the short, soundless ads that played before the lights dimmed looped on the screen. 

"Oh man, I’m so excited for this,” Chloe whispered and slumped into her seat. Max hummed and relaxed. So far, everything was going well. Maybe she had no reason to be nervous at all. 

Eventually, the lights dimmed down and the movie started playing. Max really liked it. The scenes that tried to stir emotions succeeded, and there were a few dorky jokes that she chuckled at, even though she knew they were silly. Every time she did, she saw Chloe smiling at her. Max showed her her tongue. 

At some point, Chloe’s hand found Max’s. Max didn’t mind. During the more dramatic sequences, she felt herself gripping her harder. And after the movie ended, neither of them wanted to let go. 

“That was hella awesome,” Chloe exclaimed when they stepped out of the theater, still holding hands. “Space is fucking cool.” Max laughed. 

“Definitely. It was thought-provoking. And funny, too.” 

Max obediently followed Chloe out of the theater. Outside, they stopped. The rain had lightened into a drizzle, although there was still a small stream of water running down the road. Chloe turned to face Max. 

“So, do you want a ride home, or?” 

Max hummed and gave Chloe’s hand a squeeze. 

“I mean, it is getting pretty late, but you’d have to do quite a big detour to get to my place before you got to drive to yours,” she thought. 

“Aw, that’s not a big deal,” Chloe chuckled and leaned a little closer, lowering her voice. “If it means I get to spend more time with you.” Max could practically feel herself blushing and stuttered something incomprehensible. Chloe laughed. 

“Oh, what do we have here.” Both of the women turned to look at the direction of the voice that was approaching them. Some obviously drunk guy with sweat stains on the armpits of his shirt, along with a small flock of his fellow twenty-something dudes, approached them with his arms spread out. “A few cuties. What are girls like you doing out here at this hour? Need a lift or somethin’?” 

“Uh, no thanks, we’re good,” Chloe said. Any respectful sober person would’ve gotten the very obvious hint of _‘no, I do not want to talk to you’_ that was practically radiating from her voice. These dudes, however, were neither respectful nor sober. 

“C’mon, it’s just for a night,” the leader of the bro gang said, coming closer and wrapping his arm around Max’s shoulder. Max tensed immediately. The dude stank of cheap beer and sweat. Chloe obviously noticed, because she slipped her hand out of Max’s and pushed the dude away. 

“Take a step back,” she growled. The dude looked surprised and minorly inconvenienced at the prospect of a woman standing up to him. 

“Or what?” he said, assuming a wide stance. 

“Or I’ll beat your fucking teeth in,” Chloe responded with so much venom in her voice that Max was surprised the dude didn’t drop dead right then and there. She noticed Chloe’s fists balling up. 

“I’d like to see you try,” the guy said, and from there everything went south. In the blink of an eye, Chloe’s hand met the dudebro’s face and he groaned and fell to the ground. He and his gang didn’t seem delighted by this development. 

Chloe protectively held her arm up in front of Max. 

“Stay back. I’ll handle this,” she hissed. Some of the dudes pulled their leader up and he cracked his knuckles. 

“Oh, you want to fight, bitch?” he asked. 

“Bring it,” Chloe responded. 

Max had no idea what happened over the next minute or two. The dudes leaped at Chloe, and the whole group essentially just became one of those clouds of dust that obscured fighting that you’d see in cartoons. Chloe seemed to hold her own somewhat well, but she was just one punk woman going against 5 older jocks. She groaned when one of their fists hit her face and she lost her balance, falling to the ground. She looked really bad now; she was bleeding from the corner of her mouth, but the jocks just laughed and kept kicking her as she whimpered. 

The gang’s leader stood up straight and took a step towards Max, predator-like. Max instinctively backed against the wall. 

“Well, girlie? You don’t look as tough as your little bodyguard,” the guy huffed and approached Max further. Max looked at her right hand palm as a thought, a plan, emerged in her mind. Could she? No. She hadn’t in years. She couldn’t. 

And yet, when she shot another glance at Chloe, who weakly tried to guard her face with her arm, Max suppressed tears and her balled up hand opened almost on its own. The world flickered around her and suddenly everything reversed in quicktime. 

The dudebro walked backwards, Chloe seemed to fly onto her feet, each kick and punch played out in reverse. And in a few moments, Chloe was standing there beside her and holding her hand again.

_It worked. It worked, thank God,_ Max thought as Chloe turned towards her once again, but this time when she saw Max’s face, her expression changed. 

“So, do yo- uh… Max? Is everything okay?” Max breathed a silent sigh of relief and ignored the dull pain in her head. 

“Yeah, I’m okay. Could you, uh…” Max glanced over Chloe’s shoulder and saw the dudebro gang approaching. “Give me a ride home, maybe?” 

“Oh, yeah, definitely,” Chloe said with slight confusion. Max could’ve jumped from joy. She grasped Chloe’s hand tighter and started pulling her towards the truck. 

“Great, let’s go.” 

“Uhh… Okay.” 

Max didn’t fully relax until she felt her seatbelt in the passenger seat of Chloe’s truck click and the truck revved to life. She leaned against the window and turned to look when she felt Chloe’s hand on her shoulder. 

“Hey, are you sure you’re cool? You seem a bit freaked out,” Chloe noted, stroking Max’s arm. Max smiled and took Chloe’s hand. 

“I’m fine. I- I’m just glad you’re here with me.” Chloe smiled at her uncertainly. 

“You sound high. But… I’m glad too.” 

Max hummed and leaned back in her seat, closing her eyes as Chloe started to drive towards her apartment. 

“Well, here we are,” Chloe said after a few minutes and Max opened her eyes to see the apartment building she lived in. “Goodnight, Max.” 

“Wait,” she exclaimed. “Do you, uh… want to… sleep here tonight?” With Chloe’s surprised look, she stammered: “Like, just in- I mean, maybe we could order a pizza or-” 

“Uh, hell yeah,” Chloe interrupted. “Sleepover!” 

Max yawned and slumped more into the couch. Chloe swallowed her bite of chicken BBQ pizza and looked over. Max had lent her one of her biggest t-shirts to use as a pyjama, although it was still a tad too small for Chloe and didn’t fit her style at all.

“Aw, is lil’ old Maxaroni tired?” 

“Shut up,” Max mumbled and leaned against Chloe’s side. She laid her arm over Chloe’s stomach and started tracing Chloe’s sleeve tattoo with her index finger. In turn, Chloe’s arm wrapped around her and she played with Max’s hair. She smelled of popcorn and barbecue sauce now. If Max relaxed any more, she was sure she’d melt into a puddle. “It’s like midnight. My tiredness is completely justified.” 

Chloe chuckled. Her arm moved up and down Max’s side and her voice was uncharacteristically soft and gentle. “I never said it wasn’t." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 'pologies for the relatively short chapter
> 
> coincidentally i also went to the movies today haha
> 
> life seems to have a way of arranging my everyday activities with the events of this fic
> 
> anyhow, im going to go play chapter 2 of before the storm now cya


	8. Friend, Make Sense of Me

Max had a dream that night. She was on the cliff at the lighthouse in Arcadia Bay. The sun was setting, the air was humid and the sky was coloured in oranges and pinks. Flecks of dust were illuminated in midair by the setting sun. But Max wasn’t really there. The sunlight went right through her. Nobody could see her.

Instead, she was a bodiless spirit, watching two girls who were sitting on the bench on the cliff. One of them, she recognized immediately. She looked younger, but only a little; otherwise, she hadn’t changed a bit. She was like a grunge model; she had long, straight blonde hair running down the back of her head and draping over her upper back, with stray strands on her shoulders. There were thick layers of expertly designed and applied makeup around her eyes, complimenting her round features. A blue flannel over a red shirt and a beer can in hand, and the most tell-tale sign, a blue jay feather in her hair.

The girl besides her, Max recognized her, too- although she’d changed way more. Her hair was short and strawberry blonde, and she’d tucked it into a navy blue beanie that looked terribly familiar. She was wearing three different simple necklaces Max had never seen before, a black hoodie with decorative buttons on the shoulders and some old punk band t-shirt. Her wrists had familiar studded bracelets. She was smiling, and had a cigarette between her lips. She looked like a completely different person… but something about her was still the same.

The question was, what were Rachel and Chloe doing in Arcadia Bay?

“Hey, Chlo?” Rachel asked and sipped her beer. Chloe leaned back on the bench and and took a long drag of her cigarette.

“Yeah?” she crowed with a hushed voice.

“My family agreed that we’re hella ditching this town once I get out of Blackhell. Straight to Portland. You’re coming with us, right?”

“Portland?” Chloe scoffed. “You’re kidding.” Rachel shook her head.

“I know we agreed on L.A, but they don’t want to go back to Cali. Bad memories, apparently.”

“Well, Portland might be a bit cheaper, at least.” Chloe made a smoke ring and closed her eyes. Rachel turned to look at her.

“So you’re coming?”

“What the fuck kinda question is that? Of course I’m coming,” Chloe snapped good-heartedly. “Anywhere outside this town is good. Anywhere outside this town with you around is even better.”

Rachel smiled and leaned back against the back of the bench, side by side with Chloe. She set her head gently on Chloe’s shoulder and let out a relieved sigh. “Maybe you’re right.”

“Hell yeah, I am,” Chloe chuckled victoriously, in that way that only Chloe could. “We’re gonna rock the world. That was the plan from the start, wasn’t it?”

Max didn’t think she’d ever heard Rachel laugh, at least not like she did now. Not as pure and innocent and whole-hearted. “Absolutely.”

But Rachel wasn’t there either, now. She was a living ghost. She existed in this world, but she was more a dream than the rest of their surroundings. Something about her beckoned Max closed.

Max reached out to touch Rachel, taking a step forward. The ground disappeared from under her feet, and she stumbled. The air became colder around her, the sunlight disappeared. She wasn’t on the cliff anymore, she was in a room. The lamps were all turned off; the only light in the room came from the window. A street lamp shone outside, casting a warm orange glow through rain-spotted windows. A drizzle, which had loosened its grip from a thick rainfall to a soft shower over the course of the evening, tapped against the glass. Max recognized the streets of Portland outside. The digital clock on the bedside table read 2:56 AM.

Alongside the rainfall, there was only one sound in the room. Crying. There was a bed next to the window, covered by a flannel-patterned blanket. On it was a long-haired girl. She was hugging her knees, face hidden in her arms. Her body jerked as she sobbed and whimpered. She was wearing a red shirt that was obviously several sizes too big for her, and loose black shorts. Her hair was messy, like she hadn’t brushed it in days.

On the bed next to her, there was a photo and a book. The book was an old journal of some sort, marked with post-it notes and stamps and the last entries written with a shaky hand. The latest one only had a few words, but Max couldn’t read them. The photo was of three girls, two of whom Max had seen on the cliff moments earlier. The third one sported a golden pixie cut and expensive-looking clothes and jewelry- they’d met at the Butterfly Café, and at Blackwell Academy years earlier.

The crying girl heaved and shuddered lightly. She lifted her head to look out the window, allowing Max to see her flushed face and stained make-up. The light from the street outside reflected from her gleaming eyes. It was as if she was entranced by the rain, completely unaware of Max’s presence. Max stepped closer. It was Rachel.

Why was Rachel crying at three AM?

So many questions; never any answers. Once again, Max reached out. This time, the dream universe didn’t stop her. She placed her hand on Rachel’s shoulder.

She wasn’t in Rachel’s room anymore. A sudden gust of air pushed Max back and knocked the wind out of her. She tripped, scrambling backwards on the ground and gasping as she realized what was in front of her and _way_ too close. It was a tornado, tall, slim and angry, reaching down from the dark gray sky and pulling in everything from the open field Max realized she was in. Everything except Rachel.

She was standing a few feet away from Max, right at the tornado’s edge. Her expression was puzzled. The tornado didn’t seem to affect her at all, in fact, it seemed drawn to her, and she seemed drawn to it, like it was a part of her. Max could have sworn Rachel’s hand, stretched out to touch the tornado, was becoming wind; like strings of water vapour streamed from her fingertips and joined the twister.

As the tornado moved closer to Rachel, inch by inch, Max’s vision flickered for a moment; then faded into black. There was a pounding, like that of a drum or perhaps a heart, getting louder and louder by the moment, and a whisper that Max couldn’t make sense of initially, but the pounding got louder and closer and the whisper got clearer, eventually reaching the point that they felt like they were overpowering her every sense, radiating from her mind itself.

_“Help, please, I need your help.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> super short but i promise to you the next chap will be really long and it's also like the cutest and fluffiest one so just bear with me for another week


	9. Stop The Flow of Time, Swim in Your Divine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i am SO sorry im late adjfsdjg ive been really busy and i have like 5 exams coming up and this chapter was NOT cooperating. also its not as long as i wanted it to be but shshshshhhhhhhhhshshsh

“Rachel!” Max exclaimed, shooting up into a sitting position. She breathed heavily and blinked a few times to get used to the brightness around her. She was in her room, in her bed more specifically, and pale yellow light was streaming in through the window. Max leaned back on her arms and took a deep breath.

Memories from the previous evening returned to her slowly. She fell asleep on the couch, but this wasn’t the couch, so either she sleepwalked (which she didn’t) or Chloe carried her here. Chloe carried Max to her bed! Just the thought of being carried by Chloe set off butterflies in Max’s stomach, as stupid as that sounds. _She’s probably still around,_ Max thought and threw her legs over the side of the bed. _I should she what she’s up to._

The lights in the hallway were on and faint sounds emerged from the kitchen. Max snuck across the living room and to the kitchen door, but she stopped when she heard Chloe singing to herself. She wasn’t the best singer and there was no background music, but Max recognized the song immediately simply by virtue of how often the song name was mentioned.

“...The voyage to the corner of the globe is a real trip… Ocean man, the crust of a tan man hmm-hm-hm-hmm, soaking up the thirst of the land, ocean man…”

Max suppressed a snort and threw her hand on her mouth. Was Chloe singing Ocean Man? No way. Max managed to stop herself from laughing through another verse, but she cracked when Chloe got to the guitar solo.

“Soaking up the thirst of the land, ocean man! _DAN DAN, DAN DAN DA-DA-DA DAN-DAN DAAN DAAN DAN DA-DAN-DAN-!”_

Chloe was probably trying to imitate an electric guitar, but she sounded more like an extremely enthusiastic hillbilly. Max wheezed and broke into a fit of scream-laughter. There was a crash in the kitchen.

“Shit!” Chloe yelled and rushed out of the kitchen door. “Max? Oh shit, you did not hear me! God- you did fucking not!”

After Max calmed down, Chloe revealed she had been making pancakes for breakfast, although Max’s surprise laughter attack had caused her to drop a mixing bowl and spill pancake batter all over the counter. Max helped her clean up and they sat on the couch, where Chloe had slept the previous night, in comfortable silence. Max’s plateful of pancakes was decorated with unholy amounts of blueberries and maple syrup, while Chloe went for a traditional syrup-and-butter approach.

“You dropped pretty hard last night,” Chloe pointed out eventually.

“Oh, yeah, sorry about that. I was… um… tired, I guess,” Max responded. _Also, I need more sleep than the average human because I’m a time traveler but let’s not talk about that. Wait, that dream..._ “Uh, hey, Chloe, is… Is Rachel okay?” Chloe turned to look at her incredulously.

“Wh- Uh… I haven’t talked to her? I guess… I mean, she hasn’t been at work for a couple of days. Why?”

“Oh, uh, no reason,” Max said quickly and stuffed another bite of pancake in her mouth. They returned to a silence, but this time it was a lot less comfortable. Eventually, Max broke it by clearing her throat.

“Hey, uh… Chloe?”

“Yeah?”

“Can I ask you something? I’ve been wondering this for a while now.”

“Shoot,” Chloe said, chewing on her pancakes.

“Why ‘Evanis Anne Assclown?’”

Chloe wheezed.

“Oh, this is actually a pretty funny story. See, back when I was in high school at ye olde shithole, there was this dude called Evan. Pretty nice guy, honestly, but a tad too hipster for my taste.” Upon noticing Max’s furrowed brow and awkward expression, Chloe chuckled and pressed her nose against the top of Max’s head. “The douchebag kind of hipster. Not like you. You’re the cute kind.” That made Max smile and blush, so Chloe continued with her story. “So, yeah, Evan was into like wildfire prevention and shit. He was being kinda bossy about getting people to sign like… a petition or something? I can’t remember, ‘cuz I didn’t actually give a shit. Anyway, I signed it just to shut him up, but I put in my name as Evanis Anne Assclown.”

“Uh… why?”

“Max. Evan-is. An. Assclown.”

It took a moment of staring at Chloe in confusion until Max finally got the joke and laughed into Chloe’s shoulder.

“It was- hah, it was among my best dumb jokes, I think,” Chloe explained between bouts of laughter. “After that, it kinda became my alter ego of sorts. Like an alias, or something.”

The two were quiet again for a little. It wasn’t awkward anymore, but there was a lot more physical contact now, with Chloe’s side practically glued to Max’s. Max could feel it moving with every breath Chloe took. She was warm and stable, like a human anchor, if that makes any sense. Max felt Chloe’s fingers tracing the tips of Max’s hair. So, this was what it had come to.

“Uh…” Max said, considering the possibility that talking would ruin the moment. But it was an inevitable conversation, and it had already been delayed by a week. It was time to get over with it, so Max ignored the butterflies in her stomach. “Last Sunday.” 

Chloe hummed and twirled a lock of Max’s hair around her index finger. “Mm-hmm. Last Sunday.”

Max chuckled awkwardly. She realized she had no idea where to even start. She leaned in closer to Chloe and started absent-mindedly tracing spirals onto Chloe’s leg, sighing softly. Max jumped a little at the feeling of Chloe resting her chin on her head, but made sure not to push her away. It was nice. They stayed there for another moment, each thinking about what exactly they should say to each other.

“Were you going to say something or do you just like the phrase ‘last Sunday’?” Chloe said eventually. Max snorted into her collarbone.

“Shut up! You weren’t exactly the smoothest on the beach either, were you?”

Chloe scoffed in mock offense and punched Max’s arm and Max wheezed, feeling the hairs on Chloe’s skin stand up against her breath. “That was one time! Okay? Your entire being is defined by not being smooth!”

“Okay, okay, but like really, though. Was that… you know… a one-time thing or… you know?” Max closed her eyes and kept her forehead glued to Chloe’s skin. Physical affection: an easy escape route from having to make eye contact. Especially since Chloe didn’t seem like one to enjoy eye contact either.

“A one-time thing?” Chloe sneered. That was enough to prompt Max to look up and see a disbelieving and maybe slightly smug expression on Chloe’s face. “Why the hell would it be a one-time thing? You’re like the cutest person I’ve ever met.”

Max flushed and rolled her eyes good-heartedly. “Right. Thanks, charmer.”

There was a silence that hung in the air between them while Max’s eyes flicked between Chloe’s face and anywhere that wasn’t Chloe’s face, and Chloe lifted her eyebrows, expecting Max to say something. Max was suddenly very aware of being pressed so close to her as her words started to really sink in.

“Well, just so you know,” she whispered, clutching the sleeves of Chloe’s t-shirt subconsciously, freckled cheeks bright pink. “You’re not so bad yourself.”

When Max forced herself to look up at Chloe and was met with a giant, smug, affectionate smirk, she was absolutely certain she was capable of making herself implode right then and there. But why would she, when she was gifted with the chance to hear Chloe laughing and feel Chloe’s hand ruffling Max’s hair playfully. Chloe adjusted her position on the couch and Max moved away from her, but only slightly.

“So, now that that mushy-feely shit is dealt with, we can just chill, right?” she asked. While it was obvious she was trying to get the air of awkward almost teenage love confessions out of the room and make everything a little less sentimental, as she would, it was obvious she was just as flustered at Max. Or at the very least, almost as flustered.

Max’s smile was warmer than ever. “Yeah, that sounds good.”

So that’s what they did. They spent the morning watching reruns of Kitchen Nightmares that always played on TV at 11 AM for some ungodly reason. Chloe explained she used to play piano when she was really small and that she always loved Ocean Man. It was apparently her ringtone. She seemed very offended when Max laughed at her for it.

Eventually, Chloe had to get back home. They stood at the door to Max’s apartment, each one reluctant to be the first to bid goodbye. Chloe nervously stuffed her hands into her pockets and whistled.

“So, uh, there’s this baking contest that’s coming up soonish,” she noted quietly. “And it’s supposed to be like… uh… encouraging people to partake in baking? So, like, you’re supposed to enter in pairs where at least one of you is shit at baking. I mean, the official description says ‘new to baking’ but we all know what they mean. And, so, I was wondering if, um…”

Max chuckled. “You want me to be your partner?”

Chloe cleared her throat and nodded.

“That would be cool, yeah.”

“Well, I would love to.”

“Great!” Chloe exclaimed, pulling her hands out of her pockets to clap them together once and then stuffing them back in. “I’ll text you about it later.”

Max nodded and stepped a little bit closer. Everything seemed to slow down. Her body was almost touching Chloe’s. Not that that wasn’t special at this point, the entire morning they had practically been glued at the hip, constantly touching each other at least slightly. They hadn’t gone further than that, though. They hadn’t kissed. Max noticed Chloe hadn’t actually changed out of the t-shirt Max lent her.

“Hey,” Chloe whispered, her voice low and gentle. Max met her eyes, all uncertain and… God, and so blue. She studied the patterns in them. Patterns that felt familiar, yet so striking at the same time. Their faces were so close now, and Chloe smiled slightly. It was like natural muscle response to kiss her at that point.

It felt right. Like they’d done it a million times, even if in actuality this was only the second. Chloe’s lips were soft and still tasted like maple syrup and her face was warm. It was nothing like the kiss at the beach, that had been quick and awkward and surprising. This was gentle and deep and curious. This one was like a confirmation, like a promise.

Then it was over, and Chloe was still smiling. Max was smiling too, probably. She was pretty much melting right there. She hadn’t even noticed that her hands were on Chloe’s neck and Chloe’s were on her waist until they weren’t there anymore.

“See ya, Mad Max,” Chloe said softly, stepping out of the door and closing it behind her. Max stared after her, mouth still slightly open. Then she smiled.

“See ya, Chloe.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> there probably won't be another chapter this thursday simply by virtue of my life crashing over me all at once but after that i'll do my best to get back to normal rhythm that cool with everyone? mkay bye


End file.
